Can You, Can't You?
by katekarson
Summary: Many a game craze has swept the corridors at Hogwarts, but none have ever rocked the boat as much as this one... Marauder era, various pairings. Includes slash.
1. Can You Kiss McGonagall?

**Can You, Can't You?**

**By Kate Karson**

**Bonsoir, once again, and welcome to my latest! The idea for this game comes not from the depths of my mind, but the catacombs of my younger sister's, who kindly allowed me to write the story around it for her, since she doesn't usually like to, and I do. So, all game-making credit goes to Emily Karson… well, it would do, if that was my real surname.**

**I realise it might be a slow starter, but I think it'll turn out pretty well when the rules and things are established. So hang in there for the first chapter! I promise it will be way better than this.**

**Chapter One**

Crazes often swept the corridors of Hogwarts, and then passed again quickly, but this one was taking far more time than it should to bore the majority of the older Gryffindors.

As newly appointed Head Girl, Lily Evans disapproved. As newly appointed Head Boy, James Potter most certainly did not.

"Come on, Prongs, go for red!" Sirius Black grinned and stroked his fringe down with his fingers. "Stop being a coward, you pansy."

"Alright, alright. A genius needs time to choose." James threw him a look, and grinned right back. Suddenly, he jumped onto one of the plush armchairs by the common room fire and grabbed a red paper aeroplane from the air mid-flight, inducing cheers and ominous 'ooh's, which he silenced as he touched the paper with his wand.

The aeroplane unfolded, and assembled itself into an A4-sized sheet of white parchment with a red border. It hovered in front of the head boy's face, and glancing over his shoulder to check that his audience were still captivated, he took it.

He paused a few seconds to give the paper a first glance.

"Get on with it, you incessant attention seeker," shouted Sirius; the only person who could have gotten away with saying it, and the only person who could have sped up the process.

Rolling his eyes at his best friend, James cleared his throat, and began to read out the inked violet handwriting. "_Are you charming and brave? Do you have a strong stomach? If so… can you kiss Professor McGonagall?_" There were sympathetic groans, and James winced playfully. Sirius, it appeared, couldn't stop laughing. "_You'll need all the tricks in the book to pull this one off. Can't you do it within an hour? Then pay the price of the points… points that had you won the challenge, you could have added to your total. Good luck! Worth 1000 points._"

There was uproar amongst the players. "One hour? No way!" a blonde fourth-year boy asserted.

"Sirius Black, this is obviously one of yours." James jumped onto his friend's chair and ruffled up his hair crazily, the latter laughing like a madman. "But I'm having those points." He slumped down onto the table in front of Sirius. "The question is – how do I do it?"

"You could," commented Lily, who was sitting in the quieter corner of the common room, reading a book, "just forget about it and cancel the game."

"Come off it, Evans, even you know this one'll be worth watching." Sirius had stopped laughing now, and was sorting out his precious hair. "_My_ stomach's churning, and it's not me that's going have to kiss her. I know I set it and everything, but in all fairness, I haven't got a clue how I'd do it."

James pretended to fall back against the wall, and cupped a hand around his ear. "Do my ears deceive me? Has Sirius Black just attacked his _own_ ego?"

"Shut up, you, and get on with snogging Catface."

"I will, Pad, because unlike you, I know exactly how I am going to do it. And you are all welcome to spectate from the comfort of your seats in the great hall. Anyone got something relatively neat to write on?"

A couple of minutes later, tongue poking out from the side of his mouth, the Hogwarts head boy had written out his prop, returned the remaining parchment and ink to the original owner with a grateful nod, and had also sent Peter on a mysterious errand. "Right."

It was with confidence in his task that he stepped out of the portrait with a small crowd following him, and the scroll of parchment rolled up and held tightly in his left hand. Without realising, he passed a very confused Remus, who was coming out of a corridor on his way back from the library. The sandy-haired boy managed to make his way over to Sirius, who took him by the shoulders and turned him around, frog-marching him along with the crowd. "Potter's got a red," was all he offered by way of explanation, but Remus understood.

James stood at the doors to the great hall, and made sure everyone was sitting down before he took off quickly to the owlery, the marauders minus Peter right behind him. "It has to fly in, or it won't work," he kept saying, until Sirius forced him to shut up with a soft slap around the head. He grinned and carried on walking until he reached his destination. "Artemis?" he called, and a majestic brown owl fluttered down to the perch standing next to him. James stroked his father's old owl. "Hello. I need a favour…"

Thirty minutes saw all four marauders united again at the foot of the Gryffindor table, which was the end furthest away from the Professors'; this was tradition, because it meant that they could get away with more, but it would also 'give the show-off a nice long catwalk to strut down', according to Sirius, who received a punch on the arm in reply.

Sirius tapped his watch, carved from dragon fangs. "Fifteen minutes, Prongs."

"I only need five." James glanced over at the hole in the wall through which the post was delivered. "_Et voila!_ Here comes my post."

"From you, to you. You must be used to that by now, what with Valentine's Day."

"Ha, ha, you're so funny, aren't you?"

Sirius thought for a moment. "Well, I think so, yes." This raised a laugh from a sixth-year brunette, who he winked at, before turning back to James. "Point proven."

"Touché." grinned the Seeker, and caught his letter easily. "What's this, then?"

A few of the Gryffindors watched his eyes scan down the letter with amusement. His years of entertaining his peers had trained him, and now he was a terrific actor – the excitement in his eyes was undeniable, and even hawk-eyed Professor McGonagall wouldn't suspect anything was amiss. Suddenly, he crowed animatedly, jumping up, and forced the letter into Sirius' hands.

Sirius knew what to do. With his best friend dancing around behind him, attracting as much attention as possible, he began to read aloud. "_Dear James - We were happy to hear that your effort and knowledge for Transfiguration has improved over the last few weeks! We're very proud, and since you've worked so hard, we've decided to buy the new broomstick you wanted as a reward – the Cleansweep six? Well, whichever the best model is. Your father isn't completely sure we're not up to the seventh model by now. Anyway, we hear the Cleensweeps have the best handling in the market, and the top speeds and maximum heights, too! Hopefully this new broom will help you to enjoy Quidditch – and excel at it – even more than you already do! Lots of love, Mum and Dad_. You lucky bugger, James Potter."

James himself was hardly listening. He glanced quickly at the Professors' table, and was pleased to see that Peter had done his job, and that Professor McGonagall was sitting in her usual seat. He took the letter from Sirius and scooted up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, making his way up to his target. As was his plan, he had the attention of the great hall – albeit not the entire student body, as it wasn't a mealtime. "Professor!" he shouted as he got nearer. "Professor McGonagall!"

"Potter?" she replied, not knowing quite what to expect.

He reached the table before her, and extended his hands. "Without you, Professor, my parents would never have… I mean… not even for my _birthday_… but you have made my day, my week, and my year! You, Professor, have made this broom upgrade possible, and for that, I love you." With that, quickly, before he didn't dare, he leaned in and pecked McGonagall on the cheek. "Thank you for being you, Professor." He nodded sagely, and saluted, before turning around and announcing to the great hall, "Hey! I'm getting a Cleansweep Six!"

Unable to contain his 'excitement', he cheered again, leaping into the air, and ran out of the great hall.

Almost the entire Gryffindor table was in stitches, Lily Evans included. She had to admit, however ridiculous and boisterous this silly 'Can You, Can't You?' game was, James Potter had definitely hit the mark with this dare. She shook her head as she picked up her bag and returned to the common room with the rest of her house, leaving a stunned and bewildered great hall behind.

---

Back in the common room, James was being given the hero treatment, which did nothing for his inflated ego. Everyone cheered as James' points were added to the mini-hourglass that belonged to him, and he sank into a chair. His housemates surrounded him, and he kept insisting that it was nothing, really, and he could do much better.

"Oh, honestly!" said Lily, annoyed by the over-reaction. "It was just a dare."

"You thought it was hilarious! You were laughing!" countered Sirius.

"I didn't say it wasn't funny – it was. What I meant was that someone must have done something more difficult, or more embarrassing, before. You've been playing this game for weeks. Is that all the guts you've all got?"

It was quite quiet now. The players seemed to have sensed that something interesting was about to happen.

"Do you think it's easy, then?" grinned Sirius. "You think you could do better?" He advanced on her slowly, almost threateningly, and flicked his wrist. A white piece of card folded in half appeared between his extended middle and index fingers. The others laughed, knowing now what he was leading to. She reached out cautiously and took it. "Then play." he whispered.

Out of the blue, a strong sensation of wanting to belong gripped the redhead, and as much as she hated the idea of being lumped in with the rest of the players, the longing to join in was far more overpowering. She straightened, a small smile on her face. "Alright, then. I will." This brought more cheers. She looked at the card Sirius had given her, and sat down, pulling a quill out of her bag.

_**Can You, Can't You?**_

_**Invented by Sirius Orion Black, in his sixth year, and it's still played in his seventh! Ha!**_

_**Hi, fill this in. Why? Because I said so, and I'm sexy and brilliant.**_

"Debatable." commented Lily.

"Not." Sirius called back, without looking up from examining his nails.

_**Name: **_Lily Evans

_**Year:**_ Seven

_**Preferred hourglass colour: **_Does it matter? Oh, fine, pink.

_**What are you scared of?:**_ You're going to use this against me, aren't you?

_**What are you scared of?: **_Losing my family and friends.

_**Something more general, sil vous plait.: **_The dark.

_**Would you accept personal CYs sent by other players?: **_Assuming a CY is a 'Can You?', I'll say yes.

_**So, can you?:**_ Um…

_**So, can you?:**_I don't get it.

_**So, can you?: **_What?!?

_**SO, CAN YOU?: **_Yes! Dear me. _**Better.**_

_**You know the basic rules of the game, right? When you feel like it, pick one of the paper aeroplanes flying around the common room, and it'll have a challenge on it, which you can complete for points. We have a sort of colour scheme going for us; when you write out a Can You? it'll grade itself according to how difficult or embarrassing or whatever it is. The colour scheme goes like this.**_

_**+ Grey – Something spineless even Snivellus or a troll could do. Not even worth the measly points you'll get for it. Don't do it! It'll damage your reputation!**_

"For goodness' sake." she said, shaking her head. "What is it with Severus Snape?"

"What is it? What do you mean, what is it? He's a slimeball!" erupted Sirius.

"Worse than that. He's a…" replied James, but Lily had no interest in what James Potter thought Snape was, and went back to reading the white card.

_**+ Purple – Boring, and pretty pointless, too.**_

_**+ Blue – Easy for a beginner. Sleep-inducing for a pro.**_

_**+ Green – Like a warm-up. These are middle ground.**_

_**+ Yellow – Now you're talking!**_

_**+ Light orange – Bound to cause embarrassment.**_

_**+ Orange – Eye-watering stuff. High points!**_

_**+ Red – For professionals only! Can cause premature death, or at least total humiliation, but the points will make up for it!**_

_**Yeah, so that's that. The game operates on a points system, and players get their own little hourglasses, which is charmed (thanks to Remus) to count their points. So you'll get one too. And they're all minimised (Remus) to fit into the box, which is fixed to the table by the fire in the common room, so if you want to check your score, or anyone else's, that's where you should look.**_

_**There won't be a game to play unless you submit challenges, so do it, damn it. And keep doing it. Just write out what the person has to do, as creatively as you want, so long as they know their task and time limit. You don't need to write your name; most people prefer to let everyone guess. Then you'll need to charm it, which is easy. The incantation is Assemblus, so just prod the paper and say that and it'll add the amount of points the challenge is worth to the end of your description, and fold and colour itself. It's a clever little charm.**_

_**To be fair, I'm cleverer, because it was me that made it up, but there you go.**_

_**If you can't complete a challenge within the time limit, or can't complete it, full stop, then you'll usually have to lose as many points as the challenge is worth. Other times, though, you'll just have to do some sort of forfeit – things like mass Honeydukes purchases for everyone to share, or taking another Can You? involving something you're scared of. So think about the consequences before you FAIL!**_

_**You can send challenges to other players, personally, if you really want to. The only thing is, personal 'Can You?'s can't have forfeits attached to them, whether it's point loss or otherwise. So there. If you want to send one, then you write PCY - INSERT NAME HERE!!!! at the top of your piece of paper before you write out the challenge, and just charm it as normal.**_

_**This is boring me now. I'm gonna wrap up. Any questions, ask me in real life when you give this back. I prefer talking to writing.**_

_**You do know this is Sirius writing, right?**_

Lily smiled faintly as she put the quill away. "Done." she said, and suddenly, she found herself encircled by the other players. Sirius reached out a hand to take the card, pressed it with his wand, and tucked it into the back pocket of his jeans.

He raised an eyebrow. "Go on, then."

"Go on, what?"

"Take your first challenge." James answered from his seat next to her. He gave her a reassuring smile, which infuriated her. She didn't need his comfort! But in truth, she was quickly regretting her decision to play.

After her short pause, Sirius cut in. "Might I suggest you take purple first, just to start yourself off? Don't want to break a nail, do you?" He smirked, causing the exact reaction he wanted as she flared up.

"As if." she snapped, and stood on the floor, high on her toes to choose the first red she could reach, stunning everyone, including Sirius. "I wouldn't want to degrade myself." Smiling at their silence, she unfolded the plane, and read aloud. "_I fancy taking being a teacher's pet_ _out of all proportion, so you might have a hard time with this one. Can you obtain a sample of Professor Slughorn's lovely moustache? Don't bother wasting your time sucking up; you've only got one day! Can't you do it? You'd better start saving the galleons for a nice big box of chocolate frogs – enough for every Can You? player. Worth 1000 points._" She looked up from the paper. "Easy. I'll do it now."

"Wait!" piped up Peter as she laid the challenge neatly on the table before her. "You need a witness."

"I don't need a witness. I'll just bring back the sample."

"Yeah, but it might not actually be Slughorn's." blundered Peter, who was in the mood to find fault, which was unfortunate, as Peter wasn't intelligent enough to find fault. "You won't be able to prove it."

"Surely the points wouldn't be added if the sample wasn't from Slughorn? If it wasn't his, I wouldn't have completed the challenge." she pointed out.

This rendered Peter frustrated, and he opened his mouth to retort, but James stood up. "That's true. But I'll come with you, just so everyone's certain. I can help, too." He looked at the rest of them to check that no-one objected, hoping they wouldn't, and then turned back towards the redhead. "Okay?"

"Yes, I suppose so. Alright."

"Well, that's settled, then." He smiled warmly, and nodded towards the portrait. "See you in a bit." They reached the corridor, and headed towards the dungeons. "Okay, what's the plan?"

---

"My, my, such dreadful spelling, but, yes, a good answer." Horace Slughorn was marking homework, and was surprised to hear a knock on the door. He cleared his throat. "Come in!"

James Potter and Lily Evans entered the room together, and the latter smiled politely. "Good evening, Professor."

"Good evening, Miss Evans, and good evening, Master Potter."

"Evening, sir." James grinned. "We've got a favour to ask. Ah… can we have a bit of your moustache?"

There was a stunned silence. Slughorn didn't know quite what to say, but it appeared he didn't have to speak; Lily interjected hastily in order to explain. "We're organising a school event, Professor, and we can't really tell you much about it, because it's not definitely going to happen, yet. The thing is, we need-" she nodded towards his face, "-because the event involves Polyjuice potion, and we wanted to test it out without using samples of ourselves. We knew we could trust you to keep it a secret, sir, so…"

"Oh! I see." he nodded, glad that he finally thought he understood the purpose for the head students' strange request, and gave a wide smile. "Shouldn't be much trouble for you, should it, Miss Evans?"

Lily smiled. "Well, we've studied the theory in class, Professor, so I think I'll be able to manage it, and I'm sure you wouldn't mind lending a hand if we ran into any problems."

"Not at all, not at all. I'd be delighted to help! Yes, a project indeed. If I just…" he raised his wand, and efficiently cut a small amount of his facial hair off. He offered the clippings to Lily, who took them in her hand, and closed her fist tightly.

"Thank you, Professor." She nodded to excuse herself, and turned to leave.

"Miss Evans? I just have one question." She turned back around. "Why my moustache?"

Lily was lost for words, but recovered very quickly. "No reason. I suppose it's just a prominent feature of yours, Professor." Before he could reply, she dashed out of the room, James hot on her heels.

As soon as they were a safe distance away, James laughed whole-heartedly, and Lily couldn't help but join in. "Excellent." he said, and breathed out heavily. "Don't deny you enjoyed that."

"I won't." she said, her hesitant laughter fading. "It was good. I only hope I don't get anything like that again. Imagine having to ask him for another sample!"

"I don't think he'd fall for it again."

"No." she confirmed, and realised that despite the thoughts she usually found swimming around her head, here she was having a civil conversation with James Potter, and he hadn't even brought up-

"Lily." he stopped walking and turned to face her, a few corridors away from the common room. "See, we don't have to argue. We could be friends. You could come to the Magpies game with me on Saturday."

She rolled her eyes and carried on walking. "You would have to spoil things."

He caught up with her easily, and then slowed down to match her pace. "Sorry. Can't help it." James grinned, and ran a hand through his hair. "Forget I said anything."

"Potter," she said as she came up to the portrait, "I already have." The fat lady smiled down at her, proud that both head boy and head girl still came to visit the common room she guarded. "_Richmond the Regal_."

The portrait swung open, and Lily climbed through. James grinned uncontrollably as she closed it again. "Brilliant." He looked at the fat lady. "Isn't she brilliant? Um, _Richmond the Regal_, isn't it? Thanks."

He followed her into the common room where the head girl was getting an excellent reception – her first challenge, a red, and completed easily with over twenty-three hours to spare. "She'll give you a run for your money, Sirius, I'm warning you." said Peter, grinning. "You couldn't have done that."

Sirius only laughed. "Not as quickly, no. But I would have done it eventually, mark my words. Oh, here's Jamie-boy. What took you so long?"

James shrugged. "Met a friend in the corridor."

"Was she a blonde, a brunette or a redhead?" Remus asked wryly, slumping down into a chair with his new Transfiguration book. "Wait, don't tell me. Only red is hot enough, right?" Even though he had noticed the feeling welling up for days, he couldn't quite explain why he felt so bitter all of a sudden, and in order to prevent himself from snapping at James, he buried himself in the third chapter.

Sirius and James shared a look, and the head boy took the seat next to Remus, interrupting his reading by pushing the book down with his finger. "Rem, are you OK? _It_ isn't close, is it?"

The werewolf shook his head, more annoyed at his reading being interrupted than anything. "No, it's not that. I don't know." James gave him a sceptical look. "Well, I do know, but I don't want to talk about it, and that's that, so can I read now?"

"No."

"I don't know why you're so bothered. It's just a _thing_. It'll tide over." The werewolf and the head boy looked at each other over the book for a few moments, and eventually, Remus relented. He closed the book, moved slightly closer to his friend and lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "Alright. I'm lonely, okay?" Even his draping fringe couldn't hide the blush that was beginning to dominate his face. "You and Sirius have girls all over you, all the time! You can even choose which ones you want, depending on your mood, but I can't, because for me, there aren't even any horrible ones to say no to." He struggled, but managed to meet James' eyes. "Happy now?"

"Not really. I never really… realised. I'm sorry." He ruffled up his friend's hair in an attempt to cheer him up. "Hey, you never know. Something might come up soon."

"If no girls have liked me for six years running, I see no reason why they'd start liking me now."

"They'll definitely like you if you just let them get to know you." the dark-haired boy said, but kindly. "Who do you like? Anyone?"

Remus shook his head. "No-one in particular."

They both knew it was a lie, but James decided not to press it any further. "Alright, then." Seconds later, however, he broke out into a wild smile. "Sorry, Moony, got to go."

"That'll be a potential conversation with Lily, then," muttered Remus under his breath, re-opening the book, but for once in his life, he was wrong. Over the other the side of the common room, James was scribbling madly on a piece of spare parchment.


	2. Can You Kiss Seven People?

C'est moi, again! (I can't speak French really, so… excuses moi.) Here's the next chapter. The next should be up in half an hour or so. That's purely because I want to be on the latest in list twice… evil, I know, but how else do I get my comments?? Hehe. I could offer cookies, but everyone does that now. Hm. Ooh! I know! 

_**It takes a lot of gall to review a story, but I know you're up to it. Can you review this story? Worth: infinity points.**_

Chapter Two 

As the light streamed in through charmed windows, Lily woke up the next morning. She sat up straight away and yawned, unable to stop smiling as she thought about last night's glowing achievement. Perhaps this Can You game wasn't so bad after all.

"Morning." came a voice from the other side of the room, and Lily turned to her right. Sitting on another bed was a sleepy-looking James Potter, grinning at her and tying his shoelaces, baring a chest that would turn many a girl's head. "Still thinking about your first challenge?"

She'd forgotten she was sharing the heads' dormitory with him now. It would certainly take some getting used to. "Put a shirt on, will you?" she said in reply, slightly embarrassed that she was so transparent with her thoughts, and sank back into her sheets.

"This is my room, too," he replied in mock grumpiness, but pulled up the white shirt that formed part of the Hogwarts uniform and began to button it up. "And I hope you're going to start writing your own challenges soon. If you take one out, you're supposed to write a new one. That's how it works."

"Mm." she said noncommittally, and rolled over, yawning again. She pulled back the covers, forcing herself to get out of bed.

"If you need any help thinking of something, you know I'd be delighted to…"

"…spend a couple of hours with me to try and spark inspiration. I know you would, but it would be pointless, fruitless and boring. Plus, I don't like the idea of saying 'yes' to you, because it might give you ideas." This made him laugh, and she had to admit that he was good-natured. His head had definitely deflated over the years if it meant that he could laugh at himself. She smiled, and took the clothes she would need for the day out of her wardrobe.

"There," he said, doing up the last button, "are you happy now?" He patted his stomach, now covered by the shirt, and lifted the collar in order to put on his tie. "Don't see what was wrong with it in the first place, mind."

"Oh, shush." she opened the door on the left side of the room, which led to her bathroom, taking her clothes with her.

---

At breakfast that morning, Lily found herself accepting James' invitation to sit with him and the marauders, and soon enough, she was having quite an interesting conversation with Remus about the ridiculousness of Divination.

"I agree. She's just preposterous. I usually have plenty of respect for our Professors, but the only time Professor Whitelake predicted anything correct was thanks to you, Potter, when she told me that some time in the next week, I would receive a proposition which I'd feel somewhat inclined to refuse."

"What can I say?" James grinned. "Can't deny fate."

"Fate?" Remus snorted, but didn't get to finish, because at that moment, a cream-coloured paper aeroplane flew into the great hall, and hovered patiently in front of his face. He closed his mouth, and then re-opened it again. "Oh."

"Cream," Sirius said, explaining for Lily's benefit, "means a personal challenge. You going to open it, mate?"

"Do I have to?"

"It can't do any harm. There can't be any forfeits, can there?" the redhead reasoned, buttering some bread, but James shook his head, and swallowed his mouthful before explaining.

"Not forfeits like you're thinking of. But it's kind of painful for the ego, if you know what I mean."

Remus sighed, and took the aeroplane, so Lily only nodded in reply to James as, wide-eyed, he began to read out the message. "_Remus, you're a great guy, if not far too shy, so here's a challenge that should not only reward you points-wise, but add a bit of spice to your life, too. There are seven days in a week – time that, in my opinion, should not be wasted, so, this week, can you kiss seven people? Little pecks don't count, so no cheating! Good luck, and enjoy! Worth: 5250 points (or 750 per kiss)._" Straight away, he went pale. "I can't do it."

"You don't have-" began Lily, concerned at his reaction, but Sirius was already talking over the top of her.

"Oh, come on, Moony, go for it! It'll be fun! We'll all help you. It'll be brilliant!" Sirius was grinning and eager to assist; his eyes were sparkling with the thought of a challenge that would actually challenge him, for once.

Remus shook his head. "I'm not like you, Padfoot. No-one would want to… well. You know." He laughed, shortly. "Kiss me." Then, he turned to James. "And Prongs, I told you what I told you in confidence. I appreciate the thought, but…" he shook his head. "No, thank you."

James looked bemused. "It's nothing to do with me, I promise, and what you said to me has stayed with me. Honest."

A pout from Sirius confirmed this. "Yeah, and what _did_ you say? This is me, feeling isolated."

"You, feeling isolated? Give me a break. Try being Remus Lupin for a day." The werewolf looked down and pretended to focus on filling up his plate with breakfast.

Lily didn't know quite what to say, having never witnessed anything this tense between the marauders, who were usually happy, energetic and forever teasing each other. "I think what Sirius means is that he'd like to be trusted to know about it, too."

"What do you know?" flared Sirius, but James gave him a look, and he coughed. "Sorry. Yes. That's what I meant, really."

Remus turned practically purple. "Well, I'd rather not say…" he glanced towards Lily. "No offence, or anything. It's sort of embarrassing."

"None taken." she smiled. "I'll absent myself, if you like. I've got some work to do before Arithmancy."

The sandy-haired boy nodded gratefully, so she stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder, and picked up her books. "I'll see you all in Transfiguration."

---

"Ah, Transfiguration." grinned James, leaning back in his chair. "The lesson of dreams. One whole hour in which Lily has to sit next to me, and there is nothing she can do about it."

"Yes, yes," the redhead sighed, "but it doesn't mean I have to speak to you, does it?"

"Touché."

"Why do you always say that?"

"It's my favourite word."

"Well, try not to kill it. If you say it too often, I'm sure it won't be everyone else's favourite word."

James paused. "See, here, I would usually say 'touché', but I'm not going to, because that would be clichéd and ironic."

Lily rolled her eyes, unable to prevent a smile from creeping onto her face. "You're such a prat."

"Touché!" called Sirius from the back, where he was seated next to Remus, but before the head girl could bang her head on the desk, Professor McGonagall swept into the classroom.

"Good morning, class. Today, we will be studying the theory of transfiguration for decoration and visual elaboration. In other words, we will be learning the process behind transfiguring inanimate objects to make them look better. Such processes are used in the embellishment of Golden Snitches used in Quidditch," - at this, James seemed to perk up incredibly – "jewellery, magical products such as remembralls and sneakoscopes, and rings used in magical contracts. Yes, Miss Evans?"

"By magical contracts, what do you mean, Professor?"

Professor McGonagall smiled. "A magical contract, by definition, is any contract bound by magic, and they are usually honoured by rings. The Minister for Magic, for example, wears a ring that has been passed down, Minister to Minister, for centuries, which binds him to his working contract. However, the most common use for magical contracts these days, Miss Evans, is for marriage."

Lily nodded, content with the Professor's description.

"Your task today, working in your class pairs, is to plan the ornamental transfiguration of any of the objects I have just listed. You will find pages three hundred and thirty-five to three hundred and thirty-seven useful should you come across any problems, though of course, I am here if you wish to ask any questions." She tapped the blackboard with her wand, and the instructions appeared there in white chalk. "The instructions are on the board, but – a word of advice. Try not to come up with a design that is too advanced. This sort of magic is more difficult than you might imagine, and I must insist that even if you design something you find most difficult when you attempt it, you finish what you start. You may begin."

James turned to his partner, and opened his mouth, but she silenced him. "I'd advise you don't waste your breath, Potter, because I absolutely refuse to decorate a snitch with you."

"But…"

"I don't care _how_ good it could be, or _how_ interesting you could make it."

"You…"

"Yes, I _know_ I like Quidditch, but I know how you get with snitches, and I'm not taking any chances."

He gave up, smiling. "I guess you've got a fair point. What do you want to do, then?"

"Well, there are a lot of things we could do with the jewellery, although it might be slightly harder to use colour…"

"We don't need to use colour, do we?"

"No, but it looks good if you apply as many skills as you can. It proves you're putting the effort in."

"You're so driven, Lily."

"Only because I'm aiming for an Outstanding in Transfiguration." She pulled a plain red hairband out of her bag, and put it on, keeping her hair out of her eyes. "If you want to get the best grades, you have to work at your best."

"Hey, you don't have to explain it. I like it."

"Oh, you would. Should we choose a piece of jewellery, then?"

"Let's compromise."

"Here we go."

He didn't falter. "We should do the magical contract rings." Eager to show off, he continued. "It's a compromise because even though we can't do colour, it's a chance for you to show off your skills, because we could actually create a magical contract. They're supposed to be pretty difficult, right? And, rings are a type of jewellery. So that's your half, and my half is…" he grinned. "…getting to wear an identical ring to you."

Lily rolled her eyes, but she knew it was a good idea. "Alright, then. Let's do that."

"Can I ask a question?"

"If it's going to involve you, me, and a couple of butterbeers, then no, you can't."

"Can the contract be along the lines of you coming to the end of year dance with me?" he flashed a smile, and pointed out, "There's no butterbeer there."

The redhead sighed, heavily. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we? We're only in the first term, and this ball is in the last week of the year."

"I know, but think about it. It would mean I wouldn't have to pester you all year about it."

Lily smiled sarcastically. "Yeah, and then you can pester me about what I'm going to wear, instead!"

The dark-haired boy grinned sheepishly, and ran a hand through his hair. "Touché?"

---

By the end of the lesson, despite their distractions, James and Lily had finished planning out the design for their rings, and for homework, they were going to figure out what their contract would entail – a discussion which Lily suspected was going to take a very long time. She spotted Remus packing up at the back of the classroom, Sirius having abandoned him to win a playfight against Peter, and wandered over to speak to him. "Hello."

He looked up. "Oh, hello, Lily." He offered her one of his tired smiles, and she returned it.

"How are you doing? You know, with the…"

Remus stood up quickly, and began fiddling with his tie. "I don't know. I don't think I can do it." He looked at her, as if expecting some sort of agreement, but none came. "I'm not very good at that sort of thing – well, you know that. I know that whoever sent me the challenge probably meant well, but…" he shrugged.

"I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you, though I think you should give it a go, definitely."

"Don't you think it's a bit immoral to kiss someone just for a dare? I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

Lily smiled. "See, talk like that to the right sort of girls, and they'll melt at your feet!" He smiled back, shaking his head, but she continued, with her voice lowered, so the other marauders couldn't hear. "And as for it being immoral… well, don't you think what Sirius and James get up to is far worse? They kiss girls - and perhaps even sleep with them too, I don't know – just to boost their reputations."

"I suppose you're right. I still won't feel great about it, though."

"Then you'll do it?" she brightened up.

"All I can do is try. I doubt I'll get anywhere." He scratched behind his ear, which was flushed with red. "But thanks, Lily."

"That's alright. Actually, I think you'll enjoy this week."

He gave her another of his smiles, and they walked together to join the others, who were talking to Professor McGonagall animatedly about James' new broom; which, unsurprisingly, had not yet arrived.

---

After the school day had finished, Lily always liked to read quietly in the library for a while before retreating to the pandemonium of the common room, but today, a strange curiosity pulled her to miss it out. She had seen quite a few of the Can You? players chatting excitedly and quickly making their way up to the tower, and it made her think that maybe she'd better go, too.

It was with anticipation that she entered the common room through the portrait, and sure enough, there were Remus and James, right at the centre of attention. What now?, she thought, approaching the crowd to listen in.

"Alright, girls, here's a little proposition for you, to settle a bet!" James was saying, a wide grin on his face, loving every second of the crowd's interest. Remus, however, looked like death - though whether the death was intended towards himself or James, Lily couldn't decide. "It's worth big points for the guy, and I guarantee he'll make it worth your while…"

"Shut up, James," murmured Remus, looking down fixedly at his shoes, but his friend wasn't listening; or if he was, he didn't care. He was lost in the moment.

"Come on, girls, you know you want to snog him!" There were plenty of girls around the small circle who looked as if they were very aware of the fact that they wanted to, and James smiled even more broadly. "Your pick, Remus, mate."

"Pick? You mean, choose? Oh, god…" At this point, he was forced to look up at the girls' faces, but given a full view of his face, Lily felt even more sorry for him. He was mortified. "I… er…"

"It's not that hard, Moony." Sirius called into the silence, lounging on the longest sofa. He had kicked his shoes off, and had one leg stretched out long, one knee bent. He seemed to nonchalantly realise that this was very beneficial to his chest muscles. They were almost – but not quite – visible from beneath his Sex Pistols t-shirt, which Lily would have sworn was a size too small, though it looked fantastic anyway. His facial features were arranged into the perfect expression of mild amusement, yet his silver eyes were flashing like molten lava in black and white, as if he was just waiting for something _brilliant_ to happen. According to rumour, he even trimmed his moustache slightly to one side, so that when he gave one of his lopsided smiles, it didn't appear distorted. It was easy to see why girls flocked after Sirius Black, even if he wasn't Lily's type, and she had to admit that her eyes were fixed on him when he spoke, along with everyone else's. "Just choose the best-looking." His eyes flashed again; he was joking. "Or do I have to choose for you?"

The head girl was appalled at the number of girls who suddenly felt the need to fix their hair.

"I think you'll have to," he murmured.

As if it took a great effort to stand, Sirius pulled himself up. The redhead couldn't tell whether he had intended to show his stomach or not, but then again, it was probably his prerogative to keep that a secret. He sauntered into the circle, people parting for him like waves, and looked around, running a hand through his hair. "Your favourite colour's green, isn't it, Moony?"

"Yes," replied the sandy-haired boy, who sounded as if he wouldn't have objected even if it weren't.

"Anyone wearing anything green?" Sirius tried, and three girls confirmed that yes, they were. The dark-haired boy looked at all three of them. One was tall and blonde, and looked far more experienced and confident than Remus would probably like. Not her, then, he thought, and moved on to the next, who Sirius himself had been intimate with, and had disliked. That left the third – a brunette who he sort-of recognised but whose name he couldn't recall. She was blushing slightly, and kept throwing furtive glances at a girl behind her who was returning the look with encouraging smiles. Ah, so her friend had put her forward. Perfect. He smiled, and nodded towards her. "There you go, Remus."

"Me?" she said, faintly, blushing even more furiously. The blonde didn't look too happy at not being chosen over this quiet, mouse-like girl.

Remus looked up, and smiled weakly at the girl. "Hi. Sorry." He smiled at Sirius gratefully, thanking him silently for choosing someone who probably wouldn't try to practically strip him of his virginity in the middle of the common room. "What's your name?"

"Rachel." she offered. "I'm really sorry, I'm not very good at this."

"You think I am?" he smiled at her, a little more reassured. "Sorry it has to be in front of a crowd."

"Well, I am pretty nervous."

They both laughed nervously, and Lily couldn't help but smile. Perhaps this was all Remus needed – a little kick-start. James held up his hands. "OK, let's give them some privacy, shall we? I'm sure they don't need an audience." The redhead found herself smiling again. It was nice that the marauders cared about each other like they did. Loyalty was one of the qualities Lily respected most, and she had to confess that each of the four possessed it.

The crowd didn't seem much inclined to disappear, however. James shrugged apologetically for Remus' benefit, looking at them all. "Sorry, mate, I guess you'll have to go somewhere else."

The thing was, by the time he turned round, Rachel and Remus were already tenderly pressing their lips together, eyes closed and cheeks red, caught in the moment of both their first kisses.


	3. Can You Become An Accomplice?

Here is the next chapter, as I said. I'm a bit scared about uploading this one. I don't know why. I guess a lot happens that I can't reverse. It's so fast… ahh. Oh, well. Don't worry, it's not cut-and-dry romance. Things happen!! As if I'd let my characters have happiness… 

_**Can you… review? Because you know you want to. And plus, the forfeit involves mistletoe and Argus Filch!!**_

Chapter Three 

News of Remus Lupin finally having his first kiss through a dare had spread around Hogwarts like wildfire, and on the whole, people were happy for him. He and Rachel had decided not to take their kiss any further, as it was only for a dare, really, and anyway, she had said, Remus still had six other people to kiss, but most still seemed to consider them to be a very sweet and well-matched couple.

Lily had been very proud of the sandy-haired boy's accomplishment, and had told him so, but he had shaken his head and smiled. "I didn't do it myself. I had to have James and Sirius help me. I suppose I'd wanted to be able to get someone to kiss me because they liked me." He shrugged. "Worst of all, though, I feel terribly _guilty_."

"You shouldn't. She's glad she did it. I think she's got a huge crush on you now, though."

"Really?" he brightened up, not waiting for an answer. "That's such a strange feeling. I like it."

What Lily had said was the truth. According to her friend Hannah, who still slept in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, Rachel had spent half of the previous night talking non-stop about her brief encounter with the well-mannered werewolf, and how soft his lips were, and how gentle he was…

Despite this extra attention Remus was getting, he acted as if it was just any other day, and the only thing he had had to say on the matter of his dare was at breakfast. "It's a Friday today," he had said, "so tomorrow I'll have more time to work on the kiss for the day, seeing as we only work half-days on weekends."

Sirius, however, was restless. "This is stupid." She listened to him from her seat in Defence Against the Dark Arts. His tone of voice and even his mannerisms were completely different from the animated persona he had displayed the evening before. He hadn't had enough challenge in his day, neither for his mind nor his ego, and it was boring him. "I have nothing to do."

"There's always your work, Mr. Black," commented Professor Blazen as he swept past the desk during his classroom rounds. Sirius threw a look after him, picked up his quill, and began scribbling the answers, which came easily to him.

At lunch, he was just as impatient, and by this time, it was frustrating him. His mood was disastrous, as Peter found when he politely asked, "What's wrong?" and received only an angry grunt in reply. By Potions, he was even acting this way towards James.

"Watch where you're flinging your waste, will you?" he snapped, slamming a handful of James' used containers of bluebottle ink down on his friend's desk.

"Hey!" the stag animagus replied, but not with malice. "Settle down, will you? You're only bored."

"I'm not bored! If you'd just keep your used stuff on your own fucking desk-"

James grabbed Sirius' arm. "Don't. Swear at me." He paused, waiting for the taller boy to relent, and eventually, he did, casting his eyes down. "Alright?" He let go of his arm. "You _are_ bored. Just control yourself. Think of a way to get Remus his kiss of the day, if you have to. You can take a red tonight if you want." Their eyes met. "Just don't take it out on me."

"Sorry." Sirius swept the miniature bottles into his hand and placed them back on his desk. He gave a small smile. "I didn't mean it. You're right. I will take a red tonight."

---

By the evening, Remus was looking grim in the common room. He'd resigned himself to failing the day's task, as he had come up with no way to get himself another kiss. He had already decided that he definitely didn't want to go through the same process that he had used the night before – it was humiliating, and anyway, where was the challenge in it?

Sirius and James burst into the common room. They had finally finished their detention with Professor Slughorn, which they had received for starting a water fight during the cleaning-up process at the end of Potions, and 'accidentally' managing to dump a cauldron full of cold water on Severus Snape's head. "Right." Sirius grinned. He reached up into the air, with slightly less cool and decorum than he would usually display, and plucked a red aeroplane straight from the air.

The usual crowd gathered round as he opened the dare and read it aloud. "_You might think that Can You, Can't You? is the furthest away from a team game you can get, but you're sadly wrong! For your next challenge, you can get by with a little help from your friends. Can you become an accomplice? You have half an hour to find a friend, and then you must help them to complete their challenge. If you succeed, you will get the same amount of points as your friend, plus one hundred. If you fail, then you both suffer the consequences!_"

James grinned, and reached up. "You want to help me with a red, Padfoot?"

Sirius shook his head. "That's alright. I already have a friend who needs my help." He glanced over at Remus, who looked miserable at failing already.

"Cheat." Peter punched him on the arm, but smiled. "Go on, then, what's your plan?"

The dark-haired boy didn't reply, however, and simply went over to Remus and sat down next to him. "Hi."

"'lo."

"Can I help you with your dare?"

"Well, you're welcome to, Pad, but I somehow doubt we'll have much luck, because-"

And the werewolf was silenced with a pair of strong lips, which were attached, unbelievably, but most favourably, to Sirius Black. As per the original dare, the serial seducer was definitely making it more than a 'peck', which Remus would have imagined to be uncomfortable right up until he experienced it.

He was about to move his hands to a more relaxed position against Sirius' chest, but quickly caught himself. His friend – or more, now?, Remus wondered – seemed to notice, however, because he picked them back up and placed them on his shoulders.

A sudden wolf-whistle made the recipient jump. Sirius moved an inch away. "You OK?" he whispered. His eyes flicked over the smaller boy's face, which was red again.

"Mm-hm." he replied, unable to say anything more, and hesitantly closed the gap between them.

After a few moments, Sirius pulled away again gently, and smiled, pressing a final kiss to the top of Remus' head. "I'm so proud of you," he murmured, his lips brushing tenderly against his friend's forehead. He had lowered his voice so that none of their unwanted spectators could hear. "because you kissed me."

"Only once I knew you wouldn't push me away." mumbled the werewolf, but he was smiling. "Thanks, Sirius," Then, as an afterthought, he added, "even though you only did it for your dare."

Sirius grinned, and winked. "I wouldn't be so sure. I'll speak to you later." He got up and wandered over to check his points.

The sandy-haired boy's mouth fell open. "You… what? Sirius!" he called, but Gryffindor's best chaser didn't turn back, because he didn't want his friend to see the lovesick grin all over his face.

The smile didn't last long, however. James blocked his way to the hourglasses. "Whoa. Hey. Stop." Sirius finally, wearily, directed his glance towards the boy wearing glasses, knowing exactly what was coming. "Why didn't you tell me you were gay?"

Sirius' beautiful, frozen glass eyes, which were usually warm and friendly, went cold. "Does it matter?"

"Well, no, but the fact that you didn't tell me does. I'm your best friend! Did you think I'd be disgusted? That you couldn't trust me?"

The taller boy pushed past him and began to walk away.

James kept pressing. "Sirius! Why didn't you tell me you were gay?"

The boy turned around. "I didn't tell you I'm gay because I'm _not_."

"You just kissed Moony!"

Sirius shook his head, amused, and turned around. "Bisexual." he called back. "Likes people of both genders. Add it to your dictionary."

The other boy stood bemused for a moment, then followed, and fell into step with him. "I still don't understand why you didn't tell me."

"I didn't tell you because it was never the right time, there was never a reason to and I didn't have a clue how you'd react." He lifted his hourglass out of the box; it grew, and his points were added on. "I told my family, see, and they didn't have the kind of reaction I wanted a repeat of." He lifted the left side of his hair up, almost nonchalantly, to reveal a long, thin scar, and dropped it once he knew James had seen. "It's the only one left, now, but somehow I doubt it will ever disappear. She's good like that."

The long-haired boy sounded very bitter, so James thought he'd better offer some form of comfort. "I'm sorry. I understand."

Sirius looked up and met his friend in the eye sceptically. "Do you?" The silver of his eyes was intense. "Because I was under the impression that your parents loved you."

"Sirius, I didn't mean it like that."

The seeker sounded sincere, so the Black that was never accepted sighed, and looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry. I am. You know how they get."

"I know. I never thought they _hurt_ you, though. I mean, physically scarred you. You never told me." He smiled faintly, almost sadly. "I suppose there's a lot about you that I don't know."

His best friend looked to the ceiling in mock thought. "Nah, I think that's just about it. Oh, apart from the fact that I've secretly lusted after you for a very long time." James opened and closed his mouth a lot of times, but Sirius only laughed. "You wish!"

James grinned, and punched him in the arm. "You had me worried, there."

"Homophobe."

"Poof."

They regarded each other fondly, before Sirius frowned in thought. "Technically, I'm not a poof, because I'm not gay. I'm bi." He shrugged. "Fight!"

Suddenly, he grabbed James and pulled him onto the sofa behind them, and they began wrestling playfully. After a few minutes, Sirius appeared to have won, so they stopped, and sat up.

"So, what's the situation with you and Remus? Is that… anything? Do you want it to be?"

The chaser sorted his hair, having decided that it really was too rough, after playfighting. "I'm not sure, but I didn't just kiss him on impulse. It's kind of been at the back of my mind for a while, how it would be." He paused for a moment. "Don't worry, though, I'm not going soft."

James disregarded the last comment. "You like him, then?"

Sirius pulled a pained face. "I think I do, but I wish I didn't."

"What do you mean? Remus is a great guy."

Grey eyes opened wider. "No, that's not what I meant. Not at all. He's fantastic! No, it's because we're best friends. I don't want to spoil it. We've been so close for seven years, and if anything happened…" he shook his head. "It'd be terrible. Plus, I don't think I'm quite his type."

"You're _anyone_ you like's type. I don't remember you ever being rejected, ever."

"There's a first time for everything, and I don't fancy trying it."

"It's dreadful for your ego."

"Yeah, I can imagine." He paused, and grinned. "Though I can't imagine my ego ever being reduced to anything below 'arrogant'." He caught sight of a certain sandy-haired marauder crossing the common room; oblivious to the longing looks shot at him from the liner-rimmed eyes of his best friend. He turned his head to follow Remus across the room. His voice went tender and quiet. "Unless the rejection came from him."

"Way he was kissing you, I'd say that's highly unlikely."

"Well… um… willyouaskhimforme?"

"Did I hear that right? _You_ want _me_ to…."

"Yes, yes!" Sirius shot back urgently. "I said it, you heard. Don't make me say it again. My ego can't take it."

"What, actually ask him _out_ or just ask him if he likes you?"

"Just if he likes me. Dunno what I'd do if he said 'no' to my face, in truth."

"You've always been good at this kind of thing." James loosened his tie, suddenly annoyed by the tightness of it. "It usually doesn't bother you. I mean, how many girls have you just walked straight up to and asked out?"

Sirius scratched his upper lip, then stroked his moustache flat again. "Well, I know. But I'm going to ask him myself once I know the answer is yes."

James grinned. "That's my Padfoot."

"Huh?"

"_Once_ you know it's yes?"

For once in his life, Sirius Black blushed. "If. I meant to say if."

---

Remus was upstairs in the boys' dormitories, reading his book on Transfiguration. He was onto the seventh chapter, now. It was interesting, but if he was telling the truth, he was only reading it to take his mind off _that_…

His touch was electric. Lots of girls could only dream of brushing their lips against Sirius Black's, but here he was having experienced it. God, Remus thought, he must have thought I was terrible, with the amount of practise he's had. There was no doubt about it; Sirius was a fantastic kisser. He'd heard the rumours before, of course, but it was a case of having to _feel_ it to really believe it, the werewolf reckoned. He knew he was turning it over too much in his mind. It was… had been… a kiss between friends, and just for a dare.

Alright, so the book wasn't working.

What was that Sirius had said afterwards, though? Remus could picture his mouth moving, forming perfect words with perfect lips. _I wouldn't be so sure_.

_I wouldn't be so sure…_

_You OK?…_

_I'm so proud of you…_

…_because you __**kissed**__ me…_

"Remus?"

He jumped; he hadn't been expecting anyone to come up this early. "James! Wh… what are you doing here?"

"I came to find you. I wanted to ask you about something."

"Three guesses what, right?" the sandy-haired boy offered a sarcastic smile, and put his book down next to him on the bed, sensing that despite the fact he wasn't reading it, it wouldn't be very useful as a prop to deter James, either. "Is this interrogation of yours going to be in any way humiliating?"

"Maybe." James grinned. "I don't think you'll mind too much, though." He slumped down on Sirius' bed, since his had been moved to the heads' dormitory. "I think you'd better tell me about this kiss of yours."

"It was just for the dare."

"I'm sure it was. That's why you're currently the colour of a tomato."

"Well." Remus lowered his voice. "That's all it was to him, anyway."

"Aha!" crowed the Gryffindor golden boy, in a tone that made his companion cringe. "Now you're talking. It meant something to you, then?"

"I… didn't say that!" the werewolf flushed again, jumping to his own defence needlessly. "I mean, it was only my second kiss! He's… good at it. And he's my best friend. I'm not even sure _I'm_ gay, let alone him… oh, God, this is such a mess, isn't it?"

"No, not at all." Remus threw him a look, so he began to explain. "Firstly, you don't need to explain yourself." He smiled reassuringly. "It's not like I mind. If you like him, if you liked kissing him… well, just say so. Freedom of speech, and everything. Secondly – I thought you knew that Sirius would go for anyone legally entitled to a wand?"

"You mean, he's bisexual?"

"Didn't you _know_?" James feigned surprise.

Remus shook his head. "He's never told me."

"He'd never told me until today, when I confronted him about it. I'd already guessed."

"Oh." The sandy-haired boy paused. "So you don't mind it?"

James laughed. "If I can live with your furry little problem, I'm sure I'll survive my best friends' sexual orientation." He gave his friend a moment to think about this. "Why?"

The half-blood suddenly looked very embarrassed. "I think I might be, too."

"Well, thanks for telling me." He said, in all sincerity. "And don't you feel better now you've said it?"

"I do." replied Remus, as if he had only just realised it to be so.

"Do you like Sirius, then?"

"Don't know." Remus said abashedly, and then suddenly grinned, uncontrollably. "God, James." He smiled simply. "It's all I can think about. _He's_ all I can think about." He seemed to return to reality now, and straightened his face again. "Like I said, though. It doesn't matter, because he only did it because of the dare, right?"

"Not sure. I'd have to talk to him." James said, trying to sound offhand. "Chin up, though. He kissed you, didn't he? There are girls gagging for that." The seeker grinned, and reached over to ruffle up Remus' hair. "See you later."

---

Upon returning from his mission, the head boy went straight over to Sirius, who was talking to Peter about Lucy Hartford, a girl whose affections Peter had been craving for a long time. The dog animagus nodded, and excused himself, pulling James over to the corner to talk.

"So?" the long-haired boy asked impatiently. "Yes? No? Never in a month of Sundays?"

"He's besotted. Can't stop thinking about you. God, whatever you do, don't kiss him again, he might just die."

The grin on Sirius' face seemed to stretch from ear to ear. "You really think so?"

"I don't think it, you muppet, he told me. But before you go gunning off to… do whatever you do, I'd wait a little bit. You don't want him thinking we've _conspired_, or anything." The seeker grinned, ruffling up Sirius' hair.

"Oh, what did you do that for, you fairy?" he began to stroke it down with his fingers, but he couldn't get the parting right, and eventually gave up. "I'm going to have to go and use the mirrors, now."

"All the better to see Moony with." James winked, and ran off, laughing, before Sirius could get hold of him. Unfortunately, his first choice of escape route happened to connect with Lily's path across the common room as she returned from her belated trip to the library, and he would have knocked her flying as he tumbled into her if he hadn't caught her in time. "Oh, God, Lily, I'm sorry!"

"It's alright, don't fuss." She bent down to pick up the books she'd dropped, and he joined her, quickly grabbing them for her. "Honestly, you're so boisterous." Their eyes met, and for a moment, neither of them said anything. Then, James smiled.

"We've got to sort out that contract tonight."

"Oh, no! I forgot! I hope we'll be able to sort something out. Oh, dear… I'll meet you in our common room at, ah…" she checked her watch. "Eight?"

"Yes, that's fine. I'll see you there." He paused. "Sorry. I didn't mean to run into you."

"I told you, it's fine." She smiled back, forgetting herself, and in an attempt to rectify her mistake, hurried off to the table at the back of the common room.

He couldn't help but grin like an idiot.


	4. Can You Chastise Over Chess?

I'm sure you know I love reviews, and before I begin this time, I'd like to share my favourite with you.

**I'd like to congratulate A Nonymous (sure) for being so brave and leaving a review **_**without daring to leave their name**_**! I'm so proud of them. The review went like this –**

**this story looked good but, the end was nasty **

**you didnt need the whole sb/rl thing**

**nasty **

**dont do it anymore**

Hm. Excellent grammar, too.

**There was another review that started nicely, but I deleted it, because in all honesty, it offends me when people have such fixed, close-minded opinions. I really can't see how people can truly, honest-to-goodness believe that it isn't right for men to date men! So I'm sorry if that's your opinion, I don't mean any offence - but this isn't exactly the story for you.**

**I'm really sorry for rambling, guys! I just can't stand rudeness, and I can't stand prejudice. Thanks for bearing with me, and here's the latest chapter. Nice, non-homophobic**__**reviews will get nice, non-homophobic replies! wink**

**Thank you to my reviewers who haven't signed up to FF so I couldn't reply. You are very kind!**

**Finally, happy birthday to Charlotte! Sorry it's taken so long, and sorry it's so short.**

**Chapter Four**

Sirius stared glumly into the mirror, after trying and failing to sort out his hair. A few of his hairs were actually _sticking up_, and he couldn't get his parting to go right. It was flat in the places it should have had volume, and wouldn't go smooth where he wanted it to. 

He sighed. Well, it would have to do. He could always pretend he wanted it that way.

Taking one last glance at himself in the mirror, and adjusting his drainpipes slightly, he stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He hadn't noticed that another boy was sitting on the bed behind him until now. "Remus! Hi!"

Remus smiled, finding it difficult to meet Sirius' eyes. "Hello."

"Um… enjoying your book?"

"Yeah, it's good."

There was a short silence, and neither of the boys seemed to know how to fill it, so the chaser grinned. "I'll, er, be off downstairs, then."

"Alright."

"See you."

"Yeah."

The large, walnut door to the dormitory closed quietly. About two and a half seconds later, Remus estimated, it opened again, and the perfectly shaped face of Sirius Black appeared back through it. "Actually, I think we'd better talk."

"I think we'd better."

The dark-haired boy sat down on his bed, and breathed out heavily. "So… um…" he stopped, and visibly changed his mind. "You going to try out for chaser?"

"Oh." Remus tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "I don't know. I might." He paused. "I thought…"

The dark-haired boy leaned forward, too eagerly for the other's comfort. "You thought…?"

"It's nothing." The werewolf blushed incessantly, and stood up. Sirius followed suit.

"I…"

"No, it's nothing. Really." He grabbed his book and held it in front of himself; almost, the handsome boy noticed, like a shield. He stepped forward and made as if to pat his shoulder, but the smaller boy made a beeline for the door. "Ah… I'm going to read. In the common room." With that, he left, leaving the door open.

"Remus!" the chaser rushed to the door, but he had gone.

---

"Let me get this straight, Potter. You want _me_ to enter into a magical contract with_ you_ that means I have to go out with you at some point this year?"

"That's about it, yes."

"No!" The head boy and girl had been discussing their Transfiguration project for about ten minutes now, and the only definite point Lily had managed to outline was that they couldn't agree on anything. James had thought it was quite amusing, but the redhead couldn't see the humour. "Now, come on, let's be serious. This is vital if you want to pass your Transfiguration NEWT."

"I _am_ being serious. I think it's a good idea."

"Well, I don't. I think it would be far more appropriate to choose something more… platonic."

"A weekly study session, then." He grinned, but she was at the end of her tether.

"Potter! I'm not messing around!"

"Sorry, Lily. Sorry." Obediently, he stopped grinning at her, and tried to settle down. "What do you have in mind?"

"I did have a thought." She looked up, meeting his eyes. He felt his breath catch in his throat. Whether or not she was doing it on purpose, it was working. "How about a contract which stops you from being cruel to Severus Snape?"

The seeker pulled a face. "I don't know about that. You know I'd like to leave him alone but…" Suddenly, he found himself flaring up. "He just makes me angry, Lily! You know he dabbles in the dark arts, and even worse than that, you heard what he called you!"

"I know perfectly well what he called me, but he's since taken it back, and I don't see who I am to condone people making his life a misery because of something that happened two years ago, and which he's apologised for."

"But you're still not speaking to him, are you?"

"No."

"Then, tell me. Why does he matter to you?"

She blushed slightly, which James couldn't help but smile at. "He doesn't. I just don't like that people are so cruel to him." Upon looking back up, she frowned, and dutifully, he stopped smiling. "Alright. Since you're so fond of compromise, I'll relent."

James' eyes widened slightly, but not so much that his companion noticed. "And by that, you mean…"

The head girl sighed. "What I mean is that for every fortnight you leave Snape alone, I will go out with you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Well, that's an excellent incentive."

"You agree, then?"

James nodded, a smile on his face that was proving most difficult to wipe off. "Yes, I agree. The thing is, are you sure?"

"It'll be worth it, if you and Sirius will leave the poor boy alone."

"Are we that bad?" For a moment, their eyes met again, and she didn't have to reply. "Alright. I promise I won't bother him. You don't have to go out with me if you don't want to."

"But I suppose it's only fair. It's your side of the bargain." She nodded firmly. "It can stand."

He grinned, unable to shake off the feeling that Lily's reasons for relenting were far more complicated than that.

---

Eventually, Sirius decided it was probably the best idea to go down to the common room, so he headed down the stairs and glanced around to see who there was to sit with. Peter, it appeared, was playing chess with himself, so he made his way over and took the chair opposite. "Fancy a game, Wormie?"

It took the smaller boy quite a while to answer; Sirius was beginning to wonder whether he had managed to process the sentence when Peter looked up. "Oh. Yeah, alright. Go easy on me, though."

Sirius had to laugh. "You know I'm crap at chess."

"Not compared to me."

He punched his friend's shoulder playfully. "Nah, you're alright. You just get too distracted by the word 'pawn'."

Peter blushed. "Do not."

For a while, the pair played chess quietly. Sirius was hardly thinking about the game, and was half-ashamed to realise that he was still managing to defeat his opponent quite badly. "Sorry."

"'s alright," Peter said, "but tell me something."

"Hm?"

"James tells me there's something going on with you and Remus."

The werewolf in question happened to be sitting in a chair within hearing distance of this conversation; and as neither of his friends had noticed him from his seat, he decided that this was something worth listening to.

"Mm." Sirius combed his fringe further over his face with his fingers, which the sharpest of his friends recognised as a sign of his embarrassment.

Peter, however, didn't realise, and decided to press the matter. "Oh, come on, tell me! I'll only hear the hyped-up version when the rumours start, anyway."

The other boy sighed. "I wish James would keep his mouth shut." He shook his head, disbelieving. "Well, that doesn't matter. You know, so I'll tell you."

Wormtail looked at the ceiling in mock concentration. "And I'll have… yeah, I'll have the truth, please. In full."

"Shut up," said Sirius, but he didn't mean it, and sat back in his chair, the chess game forgotten about. "It was just a kiss. Nothing actually _happened_. Rem was having trouble with his challenge, and I'd just picked a red that said I had to help someone out with their dare, so I – er – kissed him."

"You could have just helped him find another person. Someone a little more… feminine."

"What, after the humiliation he suffered yesterday? I don't think he'd appreciate that again, somehow."

Peter snorted. "You think he'd prefer to be snogged by his _male_ best friend?"

Suddenly, Sirius boiled up with fury, and a bemused Wormtail found himself covered in the chess pieces that had jumped from the board as his friend had knocked it over. "Go to hell, Peter." The angry blood he had inherited from his parents shone through in the eldest Black son's face as he stormed out of the common room.

The brown-haired boy didn't bother to move the pieces for a while. He simply sat, motionless, apparently thinking of something witty to say, but all he could muster was, "Was it something I said?"

For the moment, Remus remained in his chair, pretending to study the pages of his book.

---

James was pleased enough to whistle as he wandered through the corridors of Hogwarts, aiming loosely at the Gryffindor common room where he might find one of the marauders to discuss events with. He turned the corner and nearly slammed straight into Sirius, who looked as if he could kill. "Whoa, you alright, Pad?"

He was incapable of a proper reply. "Peter… bloody homophobe…" In order to prevent himself from taking any of his anger out on Prongs, who hadn't done anything, he stalked off, shaking his head.

Deciding for the good of his health not to follow his friend, James turned around and walked into the common room. "Um, can anyone tell me why Padfoot's so angry?"

Remus stood up. "I think that's best discussed somewhere private." He turned to look at Peter coldly, who appeared to be horrified that the werewolf had been close enough to hear him and Sirius talking.

The seeker indicated the dormitory, and led the way up there, Peter trailing quite a way behind. As soon as the door had been closed behind the smallest boy, James spoke. "What's all this about homophobes?"

"Wh… what?"

The sandy-haired boy was the only one that remained standing. "I think you'll find, _Wormtail_, that you said some things to Sirius that could be considered quite hurtful." James was surprised; the most bookish of the marauders, despite having the mind of a wolf once a month, was also usually the most docile. The fact that at that moment he wasn't proved, essentially, that something had gone very wrong.

"Remus." James offered his friend a look that he hoped conveyed how he felt about the situation; that Peter was in the wrong, but was too dim to understand why, and that it would be better to simply leave it. Then, he turned to the offending boy, and sighed. "What exactly did you say?"

"I'm not sure I know."

Reluctantly, he turned to the werewolf again, who was only too happy to explain. "He was implying that it was a ridiculous idea to…" he lowered his voice, "…assist me with my dare in the way that he did, because Sirius isn't a girl."

"And?" Peter asked, utterly at a loss.

"_And_?" Remus stood up, infuriated, but refrained from saying anything more at a glance from his more level-headed friend, who hadn't been appointed head boy for nothing. He crossed his arms, and went to face the window in an attempt to restrain himself and his emotions, which were extremely heightened all of a sudden.

James looked pointedly at the rat animagus. "I think that it would be best for you to apologise to Moony, and then to Padfoot."

"I still don't see what I've said," he began, but changed direction as the taller boy frowned at him. "but I'm sorry, Remus."

James and Peter looked at the other boy, waiting for his acceptance. After a moment, he nodded shortly, a confirmation that he had forgiven the brunette's comments, but did not turn around. The others knew not to press him, and headed downstairs to the common room.

The remaining marauder was glad that they had left without further comment. It gave him a better opportunity to focus entirely on the dark figure that was striding across the grounds in the near-night, throwing its hands out every now and again in frustration, and soaked to the bone.

---

Sirius didn't know it was raining, even after he stepped outside. He could feel it on his skin, yes, but it didn't register through his anger, so he didn't think to get under cover or go back and get a cloak. As it turned out, this was probably a bad decision, as it was then that the heavens really opened, and after a minute or so, he may as well have jumped into the great lake.

He didn't know why he was so angry, really. It had just hit him; a wave of fury that he couldn't describe or pinpoint. He could have hurt Peter badly, by magic or by fist, without any difficulty, but the sheer thought of having to stay anywhere near him was repelling.

On top of that, he didn't think either James or Remus would take too kindly to such a violent attack on one of their best friends, and as much as he felt that the smallest marauder had deserved to be hexed to Hogsmeade, he couldn't risk getting the cold-shoulder from the other two.

He had decided straight away that the best thing to do would be to go into the grounds and have a walk around, alone, to cool off. His eyes darted to the castle, and it was only then, when he saw it tearing through the air, that he noticed the sheets of rain that were cascading down from the sky. Well, he was certainly cooling down, that was for sure.

He smoothed down his hair with both hands as if he was trying to wash it, and closed his eyes. Maybe he was just overreacting. Maybe he'd better go and apologise to Peter.

At that, he opened his eyes, and glanced at the castle, and at Gryffindor tower, where a figure was standing at the window of what he assumed was the boys' dormitory. Presuming that it was indeed him that the figure was looking at, he looked right back, and headed into the castle.

**Before I go, I think I'd better make a note of the fact that I wrote the Peter/Sirius confrontation bit of this chapter before I got the homophobic reviews. Just so you don't think I'm trying to make the point even further, haha!**


	5. Can You Sing For Your Supper?

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews! Don't worry, the game is back in play this chapter. Sorry to deprive you all! The only reason no-one played it in chapter four is because there would have been too much on the plate. I wanted to finish off the evening that began in 'Can You Become an Accomplice?'; it would have seemed rushed if I'd crammed it all into chapter three.**

**Oh, and I apologise if the music I've chosen is slightly out of date. Sirius and co. were in their fifth year in 1968 (please don't ask me to explain) which makes it 1970 in their seventh. I think the Pistols debuted in that year, but I don't know the exact dates, obviously. And I don't know when particular songs were released.**

**Sirius likes the Pistols, OK? Sex, firearms, anarchy, and Sid Vicious maketh a band Sirius Black would love. Live with it!! Haha. I'm just telling you so if there are any Sex Pistols fans reading, they won't think, 'What a loser, she doesn't know she's in the wrong timeframe!'.**

**Besides, I'm going to shut up now, because I'm rambling again.**

**Chapter Five - Can You Sing For Your Supper?**

Sirius had taken Peter's apology graciously, but was still being a little withdrawn towards him; which, James supposed, ruffling up his hair, was only natural. In fact, he had thought that it was quite good of the dog animagus to have forgiven the smaller boy so quickly. The problem lay with the fact that Sirius was being withdrawn to everyone – not just Wormtail - as a result.

It was pretty strange to be eating breakfast in such quiet. Hardly a moment passed at the dinner table when there wasn't being a joke or a jibe made at one of the others, but today was just one of those moments. It wasn't silence - far from it. They _were_ talking. It just wasn't the free, easy conversations they usually shared.

The head boy wasn't the only one to spot this. His counterpart had also noticed. A couple of seats away from the four this morning, she glanced down the table, uncomfortably aware that something was different. She knew that they had argued last night but had been in the heads' common room when it had happened, writing up her and James' decided contract, so wasn't sure of the details.

Whatever it was, she decided, it was definitely something to do with Sirius. He looked the gloomiest of all of them, picking at his eggs and bacon with a fork as though they were the most irritating items he had seen for years.

He still hadn't improved when she shared third and last lesson, Herbology, with all four marauders. They were going to be studying a main ingredient in Amortentia, a strong love potion, and usually, he would have been laughing and making ridiculous jokes about slipping some into his pocket for his private stores, or something like that.

She hated to admit that she sort of missed it.

James sidled up next to his friend as he half-heartedly cut open the stem of the plant they were studying with his scalpel. "Sirius."

"I'm not really in the mood for pranks, Prongs." He said it as if he was tired; knew about his friend's intentions and didn't want to be bothered with the suggestion. To Lily's surprise, he did look up at the head boy apologetically – but it seemed to her as if he was only doing it so that he didn't hurt James' feelings.

"I know. Sorry." He patted the other boy's shoulder, and then lowered his voice so that Lily had to strain her ears to hear. "I think it's only fair if you talk to Moony, though. He thinks he's done something wrong."

The chaser's gaze moved from the plant to the sandy-haired marauder who was recording results of some sort on a spare piece of parchment. He didn't look as enthusiastic as usual, although it seemed that he was still managing to complete his work excellently. Sirius sighed. "I know." He left it at that, however, and after looking out of one of the glass walls for a while, went back to his work, concentrating more on his own thoughts than the stem he was cutting up.

Sharing a look with James, Lily stepped over to the werewolf. "Hello, Rem," she tried.

"Morning."

"How are you?"

"Peachy." He looked up at her, his face dark from a lack of sleep. The slightly gaunt look he held at the moment could be attributed to the closeness of the full moon, but it didn't excuse the sadness swimming around in his amber eyes. "Come on, Lily, what do you think?"

"Sorry." She smiled, almost sadly. "Do you need any help with your stem?"

They both knew that he didn't need any help whatsoever, but they also both knew that it wasn't really the stem she was offering to assist with. He nodded, and she rolled up her sleeves, stepping in next to him.

It only took a few seconds for him to crack. He put the scalpel down, looked behind him to check that no-one was there, and then whispered desperately, "Why is he _avoiding_ me?"

"Oh, come on, he isn't avoiding you."

"Alright, then, why isn't he speaking to me?" In an attempt to look nonchalant, he picked up the scalpel and began to make another incision into the stem, but stopped again quickly. "Nothing! Three hours – more – and not a word!" She remained silent, allowing him to finish his train of thought. "Even if he doesn't want to… I mean… if he just wanted to stay friends, that would be alright so long as he said something. Oh, for goodness' sake!" He spat, having accidentally cut his finger on the blade.

It was then that Lily decided was the best time to intervene. "Remus, calm down. It's OK." She summoned a plaster from the pile on the Professor's desk, and stuck it onto his index finger where the cut was. "He's probably just nervous."

"Sirius Black, nervous?"

"Yes! People are often the most confident about the things that mean the least to them. How do you know Sirius isn't like that?"

"I just _do_."

Despairingly, Lily shot a look at James, who nodded shortly, and excusing himself from the silent Black's company, made his way over. "Alright there, Moony?"

"I'm fine." He whispered the word as if it was forbidden, daring to glance at Sirius, who was still moodily dissecting his stem, before going back to concentrating on his own work.

The head boy and girl looked at each other, silently agreeing that he probably wouldn't talk any more, and went off to their own desks. Neither appeared to notice that they had slipped faultlessly into collaborating with each other, nor that they had begun working together on the stem project by wordless mutual agreement.

---

It always got James down to see any of his friends upset, so when both Remus and Sirius were still mooching around in the common room after the lesson had finished without saying a word to each other, he decided to take matters further into his own hands. The common room was full when he sighed heavily and announced, "I'm pretty bored."

"Take a dare, then." Peter replied, lounging in a seat by the fire. This was a rehearsed line; James had asked him to say it so that he would have an excuse to do so.

He nodded towards the other boy. "Alright. Good idea." He grinned, and was thoroughly pleased to notice that even his dark-haired best friend had looked up expectantly. Stretching slightly, he took a red aeroplane mid-swoop, and opened it with one hand. Having cleared his throat, he began to read. "_If you're taking a red, you're probably in the big points already, so it's about time you decided to sing when you're winning! Can you sing for your supper? Burst into spontaneous song just before your next meal gets served, and ensure you have everyone's attention – whether they're laughing or crying. Too chicken? Lose five hundred points. Worth: 750 points._"

To everyone's surprise, including his own, Sirius spoke up, a slight smile on his face. "You should have no trouble with that one."

James stepped over and patted him on the back. "Quite true, Padfoot, quite true."

"Tell me, Potter, am I going to be deafened if I join you four for supper this evening?" Lily smiled from her seat near the stairs.

"Not at all." He placed a hand on his heart. "It will be a soft serenade, especially for you."

The redhead tutted, a smile on her face, but Remus laughed. "I'm not sure I want to hear this."

"I swear to God, Rem, you do."

The werewolf blinked, blushing slightly. He hadn't expected Sirius to address him in such a laid-back manner after a whole day's silence. "If you say so. Sirius." He seemed to enjoy saying the name, as if he had been banned from been doing so and had just received permission again.

The dog animagus flicked a lock of hair off his face by throwing his head back, one eye closed lazily. "I do say so, and I'm usually right."

Even Peter couldn't help but grin. Everyone had felt a great amount of tension lift as the two smiled at each other as if nothing had ever happened. It appeared as if even the chaser's ego was back to its usual level, which, in James' opinion, was excellent.

The head girl smiled. She, too, was relieved; enough to make good on her offer to sit with the marauders at supper. "If you want to do that dare tonight, Potter, then we'd better set off now."

"Oh." He was surprised that she had reminded him. Usually, she would delay having to spend unnecessary time with him… then again; he was probably reading into this too much. She probably just wanted to see the dare. "Yeah. Anyone coming?"

"Well, us, obviously." Sirius grinned, flopping his fringe back over his eye with a hand, and stood up. He wriggled his wrist in an attempt to relieve the cramp, and then patted Remus on the shoulder. "Come on, get up. I'm not letting you get away with staying here." Half-heartedly, he added, "You too, Pete."

Remus closed his book and shoved it into his bag. "Alright." He smiled as if everything in the world was perfect, and followed his friends out of the room.

---

Having taken their seats at the table, Lily and the marauders were talking about how James would best complete his dare. Sirius seemed to be leaning towards a loud rendition of 'God Save The Queen' by his beloved Sex Pistols, complete with an air guitar assault on the table.

"It would be amazing. The room would go nuts!"

"I was thinking something a bit more mainstream, actually. That way, I might get a bit of karaoke going."

"Wimp." Sirius smirked, but not maliciously. "Though I suppose you could do a bit of The Who."

"The what?" Peter joked, but the dark-haired boy ignored him, opting instead for an aloof silence. The rat animagus tried to rectify his mistake. "How about something cheesy like… um… the Beach Boys?"

"Well, wouldn't _that_ be nice?" Sirius mocked in such a way that no-one really knew whether he was teasing or not.

Remus stirred uneasily, afraid that the bubble he had been in for the past five minutes could be about burst unceremoniously once again. "Perhaps something a little more related to dinner."

There was silence as everyone considered this, Peter nodding in thought. However, it was the bearer of the dare that spoke first, a wild smile on his face. "No, I've got it. I know what I'm going to do."

This brought a smile to Lily's face, although she couldn't put her finger on a reason why. "Enlighten us."

He only winked, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes shortly, before standing up without opening them. To everyone's surprise, including his own, he cut straight into the chorus without even tapping the table, and began to sing across the hall. "Fly me to the moon, let me play amongst the stars, let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars."

It was slightly odd to hear such a professional-sounding voice without any music, but it sounded eerily enchanting as it echoed around the hall. Nobody had ever heard James sing before – he'd never expressed an interest in it, and, Padfoot realised, he had seemed pretty nervous. But why, he thought, if his voice sounds like this?

When he finally finished the end of the chorus in that voice of his, which sounded to Lily as if it had been made for jazz, and opened his eyes, he noticed that there was silence in the great hall. He grinned, and then did the unthinkable and blushed, colour rushing to his cheeks as he took his seat once more. Sirius was only the first to clap; soon, the vast majority of the Gryffindors, and even some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, were offering their applause too. He cleared his throat once the clapping had died down, and grinning, murmured, "Thank you, thank you very much," in an impression of the King that even Remus, who was a huge fan, was proud of.

That, however, was the last he would say about his performance, no matter how many times people congratulated him or told him that he was 'an amazing singer'.

He seemed to be permanently blushing now, and after thinking this, Lily frightened herself with thoughts of endearment towards the head boy, and silently berated her mind.

The thing was, he looked so sweet sitting there at the centre of attention, the only time in his life that he didn't want it so – and the fact that he was blushing under the scrutiny of all the questions he was getting was another anti-arrogance indicator.

Finally, as supper was served, poor Potter was released from the barrage of 'well-done's and 'I-never-knew-you-could-sing's that he had been suffering from and allowed him to sink back into just the company of his friends. "So." He sighed, but smiling. "Apparently that went well."

"James," Peter stated bluntly, "it was bloody fantastic. Do you get lessons or something?"

He coughed. "Um, stage school, actually."

The darker-haired boy leaned over to pat the side of his friend's face in a way that only he could get away with, impressed. "That's interesting. You should have mentioned it before."

"Yes," Lily confirmed, "you should have." They locked eyes, but the glance fell through as she lost her nerve. She could almost feel his knowing smile radiating towards her. Forcing herself to look up, she repeated herself. "You should have."

James laughed. "Yeah, but it doesn't usually come up in conversation, does it?"

"Actually, it does." Remus nodded towards him. "'What did you do over the summer?' is a question I'm sure covers it."

"Alright, alright, I don't need the Spanish inquisition." He grinned and took a light sip from his newly-acquired cup of hot chocolate. The others understood that the conversation had reached its end, and decided just to accept that James could sing without having to annotate where and when he learned – a decision for which the subject was quietly thankful.

---

In the excitement of the head boy's riveting dare, Remus had forgotten all about his own. He was still turning over the night's events in his head, in a world of his own, when he turned a corner with the others (minus Lily, who had gone straight back to the heads' dormitory) and walked straight into a studious-looking girl with blonde plaits and a pile of books; books which were, as a result, dropped all over the floor.

Sirius couldn't quite tell which of the two had gone paler. "I'm so sorry!" Remus managed to stammer, dropping to his knees before she could and began to pick up the books. She didn't take long to follow, picking them up quickly but tenderly.

"It's alright." The girl replied in a voice that was so quiet it was barely above a whisper. "I wouldn't usually mind so much, but they're library books."

"Oh!" His eyes widened. "Oh, no. I feel awful. They're all bent at the corners, look."

If he hadn't been loyal and full of self-control, Sirius might have laughed at the two book-lovers having fits over bent corners of pages. The fact that they both seemed to think that a bit of dust on an old copy of – what was it? – Constellations and Charm-Casting was a serious issue did hold a certain amount of humour for the dark-haired chaser. He had never had much respect for books; in his opinion, they were just ink and paper.

"They'll be fine, I'm sure." She picked the books up, and returned to a standing position. "I'm Samantha, by the way."

"Samantha." He shook her hand. "I'm Remus." Then, the colour flew to his cheeks. "God, this is such a cliché."

They both laughed quietly, and James patted Sirius on the shoulder in an indication that it was time to leave. Peter followed them dejectedly, wondering fruitlessly why the head boy hadn't tapped _him_ instead.

---

An hour or so later, James and Sirius were lazily passing a transfigured quaffle between them, easily preventing their smaller friend from taking it from them.

"Oh, come on, guys, let me join in!"

It was all only fun, though – at least, to the other two it was – and when Remus finally wandered into the common room again, smiling lightly, James threw the temporary ball into the fire where it turned back into a piece of coal, and spoke to him, offering an enthusiastic grin. "About time. Where've you been?"

The werewolf murmured something incoherent. Peter cupped a hand around his ear, exaggerating every movement. "Sorry, Moony, not a word."

"I'vebeenintheAstronomytower."

The seeker whistled. "Stargazing, were you?" he asked, knowing otherwise. The Astronomy tower was the known spot that couples went to spend time together kissing. "Come on, what happened?"

"Nothing, really. We just, er, kissed a bit." He paused. "Well, a lot, really."

James whooped by way of congratulations, and sprung up from his chair to pat the bemused boy on the back wildly. "Brilliant, brilliant. See, you're getting better! Eh, Pete? Sirius?"

The brunette was just as enthusiastic. "It's fantastic! Well done, mate."

There was silence from the eldest Black son, however; the only of the marauders not to stand from his seat. He didn't even appear to be looking. Instead, he was staring into the fire as if it was about to dance for him, and probably wouldn't have said anything if James hadn't have given him the look of death.

"Oh." He said blankly, standing up. "Yeah, it's really… great. Well done." There was a long pause. "Well, I'm tired, anyway. I'm going to bed."

With that, he bounded up the stairs, and a faint slam could be heard as he shut the dormitory door with a little more force than was really necessary.

There was silence amongst the remaining marauders for a few seconds, until Remus broke it. "Right. Well."

"Don't take it badly." James removed his glasses and began rubbing his eyes, tired. "Sounds to me like…" The sentence was left unfinished, however, as he sighed and replaced his glasses on his face. "Oh, just ignore him."

Remus had heard his hesitation, however, and knew not to let it drop. "Sounds to you like – what?"

The other boy nodded, and James sighed, replying gently for the sake of his 'tired' friend's ego. "Like jealousy."

---

_No, this can't be right. Let me go over the facts once more._

Remus Lupin, with that Ravenclaw; Samantha Hope. In the Astronomy Tower.

_No, no. It's all wrong!_ He ran his hands through his hair, and for once, didn't care what it looked like. _He wasn't supposed to kiss someone else._

It was frustrating that the first person he really liked, or at least thought he did, was also the first person to not be openly infatuated with him. He reached for his secret store of firewhisky, which he kept in the trunk at the foot of his bed, and having pulled out a twelve-inch bottle, took a large swig.

It was the first of many.

---

An hour or so after Sirius' dash to the dormitory, Remus had finished his account of the events after the others had left him with Samantha, and after bidding goodnight to James, who had gone back to the heads' room, and Peter, who was going to stay up to play chess against himself by the fire, he alighted the stairs and wandered into the dormitory.

He found the door slightly ajar, and upon opening it found a fairly intoxicated marauder propped up against his trunk.

_Moony's at the door_, Sirius thought. _How odd_.

Despite the boy's adverse reaction to the werewolf's time with Samantha, Remus couldn't help but smile as he prised the bottle from his friend's fingers. "I think you've had enough, don't you?"

"You need talk, shagging around with girls in the tower," replied the dark-haired boy, only slurring a little, but he didn't mean it, and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet without any fuss. He could have walked perfectly well by himself; he was used to the effects of drink, but the fact was, he almost – _almost_ - wanted an excuse to lean on Remus' shoulder. "Untie my shoes, will you?"

The other boy nodded, and obliged, used to this sort of behaviour from his friend. Sirius had always liked to spend a night or so a month in a state of drunkenness, ever since he was twelve or thirteen, maybe.

Padfoot fell backwards to lie down on his bed, head resting on his pillow, and sighed, deeply. "Sorry."

The amber eyes belonging to the most studious of the marauders widened, surprised. "That's alright." He paused, and then stroked down the patch of hair that Sirius had messed up earlier. "I… I understand."

With that, he stood up, and shut his friend's curtains for him. Maybe if he didn't think about it, he wouldn't have to understand as he said he did.

---

The moment he opened the door to his dormitory, James loosened his tie and removed it from his head, slinging it around one of his bedposts. It had been a tiring day, what with Sirius and Remus being so tense with each other. Peter was no help, either; all he seemed to do was joke about things.

As ever, however, he knew that bad days weren't erased by thinking about them, and as he downed a glass of water, he managed to relax quickly. He had just taken a seat on his bed, and yawned, ruffling up his hair at the back, when Lily walked in.

"Tired, then?"

"God, yes." He opened his eyes and smiled, too fatigued to even offer her the usual cheeky grin. "You?"

"I'm not too bad, actually." All the same, she stretched her shoulders and sat down on her own bed, facing him. "You've done some good today."

"Yeah, guess so. You too, in Herbology."

"Just helping out." She smiled, deciding not to mention the singing, for his sake, and leaned forward slightly so that she could see him better, leaving about a metre between them. "You look like you could really do with sleep."

"I know, but I can't be bothered with it, somehow." He yawned again. "Spoken too soon, I suppose. I'd better lay down, at least."

"Maybe so."

He smiled. "Alright."

"Yes."

They both laughed at once, and stopped quickly at the same time, which was highly unusual, and caused them both to blush – Lily more than the head boy.

"I'll – er – turn the light off, then."

"Alright. Goodnight." She cleared her throat slightly, and as he switched off the light, he could have sworn he heard her add, "James."

**Sorry if the singing was corny! I just like the idea, and James is cheesy anyway, right? Sorry again. Haha!**


	6. Can You Tell The Truth?

**After a long and aggravating (erm, yeah) session on Super Monkey Ball Wii, my arm is tired, and I have decided to return to the simple pleasure that is writing. It hasn't been long since I finished 'Can You Sing For Your Supper?' (in other words, I typed the last words twenty minutes ago) and I'm still in the mood, so… why not? Here we go again, with 'Can You Tell The Truth?'**

**Oh, and yar, I invented an intelligent, mysterious, captivating, young, devilishly handsome flying Professor purely for not-embarrassing-Lily purposes. So hang me! If I love my characters and want to look after them, I will. So there.**

**(I'm kidding. But not about the Professor.)**

**Chapter Six**

In the morning, almost everybody was in a good mood – even Sirius, who had taken a potion for his hangover, and was now arranging Remus' eggs and bacon into a smiling face with a ketchup moustache.

It was almost a permanent thing for Lily to sit with the marauders at mealtimes now. Her friendship with Remus was steadily growing, as they had plenty in common, and she found herself less irritated and more entertained by Sirius' antics every day. It was still James that was the real issue, but the problem had changed. He wasn't asking her out anymore, which was definitely a good thing, but he was treating her differently, now – like a friend. She wasn't sure she liked it.

"Transfiguration first, Lily." Peter grinned. "Looking forward to partnering up with Jamie?"

James ruffled up the smaller boy's hair. "Shut up, Pete. It's just a project." After Friday's events, he hadn't had the chance to bring up that he and Lily had decided on their contract yet, and for the moment, he was glad. He didn't know what Peter might say if he knew. He was definitely looking forward to it, though, and was confident that he could keep his half of the promise.

Convincing Sirius would be the hard part.

Lily sat back in her chair a little hurt, having misinterpreted his look of concentration as distaste. Maybe he didn't want to partner her after all. Maybe he'd be better off with one of his real friends.

She caught him in the corridor. "James, you don't have to work with me if you don't want to."

A look of confusion clouded his features. "Why wouldn't I want to?"

"I don't know. I just thought… well, if you want to work with someone else, you can. That's what I'm trying to say."

As she had been entirely serious when she spoke, she was surprised to see him smiling at her fondly. "No, it's alright. I'll stick with you."

She smiled back, more relieved than she would have guessed, and together, they headed up the stairs and to Professor McGonagall's classroom.

---

"I sincerely hope that you have all done your homework, as those who have not will be expected to come back after their third lesson to complete today's work – if you cannot catch up within the hour, that is. You know what you're supposed to be doing, so… you may begin."

Lily pulled a roll of parchment from her bag, and opened it out across the desk. "Right, this is our plan. I drew it up in the library."

"You did all this by yourself?" The seeker traced a finger over the graphic-style designs she had drawn and annotated. "That's a lot of work. I would have helped, if you'd asked."

"Maybe, but you have Quidditch practise and things. I just thought it might save us a bit of time in the lesson."

"Excellent!" He grinned. "Thanks, Lily. I feel really bad, now. I haven't even thought about it any further."

She allowed herself to smile. "I'm surprised you haven't already planned your various outfits for the occasions you behave yourself."

"I did that months ago." James grinned; he was just joking. "Alright, then – where do we start?"

After about twenty minutes, they had managed to transfigure the basic shape of the rings from some old bronze ones McGonagall had provided into the sparkling silver design that Lily had drawn. All that remained was the contract. "I've been researching this," she told him, "and I don't think it's difficult as it sounds."

"Easy for you to say." He smiled, and saluted. "Just tell me what to do."

"You hold hands, and you state each part of the agreement as you go along. It's not like an Unbreakable Vow, don't worry; you'd need an official witness for that. It's just a promise, really."

"Aw."

She threw him a look, smiling, and offered her hand.

"Give me a minute." He wiped his hand down on his trousers, and grinned. "There."

Lily rolled her eyes, but he only laughed as they slipped their hands into each other's. It was extremely difficult for him to look at her somehow, and his brown eyes kept slipping off hers. Apparently, though, maintaining eye contact was totally necessary, so he forced himself to do so as she began to speak. "James Potter, will you promise to refrain from intentionally physically or mentally harming Severus Snape?"

"Uh, yeah." He squinted at her handwriting as she pointed at his line. "Oh – er, Lily Evans, will you, um, go out with me every…" he paused as she tapped the script again. "Oh, sorry. Will you go out with me, James Potter, once in ratio to every two weeks that I refrain from harming Severus Snape?"

"I will." He smiled wildly as if he hadn't been expecting it, which made her return it, albeit far less crazily. For a few seconds, they just sat there with their hands entwined before Lily pulled hers away and stowed it safely beneath the desk. "Well done. Let's hope you keep your promises, Potter."

Remus, who was sitting a couple of desks away with Peter, was the only one to notice that she had let slip that she wasn't as reluctant as she seemed.

---

As soon as James stepped outside of the Transfiguration classroom, stretching, he saw the perfect opportunity to begin Being Nice To Snape. The boy in question was wandering in his direction along the corridor, hair hanging over his face. He was definitely looking at James – with resentment, of course, but that could change, he thought, optimistic as always.

"Hello, Severus," he said, offering the Slytherin one of his sincerest – and, as he could confirm from hours of practising it in the mirror, handsomest - smiles.

He was slightly taken aback when he only received a spat, "Piss off, Potter," in reply. He wasn't used to his attempts at being charming (a game at which he was well-accomplished) getting thrown back so badly; Lily hadn't spoken to him like that, even last year when she disliked him most.

"Oh," was all he could muster.

Lily and Sirius were standing just behind him, having been involved in a conversation that mainly revolved around whether or not the Sex Pistols should have been banned from muggle television, but now they were silenced; their reasons for which were entirely different.

After a couple of moments, Sirius explained his own silence away through shock. "What the hell are you talking to _him_ for?"

The redhead, however, was slightly worried that perhaps she'd made the wrong decision by asking James to be polite to someone who was obviously never going to display manners back. She felt slightly guilty, but then supposed that the seeker was probably lively enough to just shrug it off and get on with things. Still, she hoped she hadn't lowered his defences too much. She would hate it if Snape managed to humiliate him.

Did she just think that? Surely not.

As she stopped herself thinking about it and snapped back into reality, she realised that Sirius and James were disputing whether or not James should be nice to Snape. The head boy seemed to be dancing around telling his friend about the contract.

"Is there a reason you're not telling him?" she nudged helpfully, deciding that it would be best to rescue Sirius from James' endless torrents of babbling.

"Tell me what?" Sirius asked. He was usually the sort of person that everybody wanted to tell all their secrets to, and he liked it that way. To have the title snatched away from him felt blasphemous, and cruel.

James sighed. He hadn't been looking forward to having to persuade his friend to join in with this contract of his; the wild chaser wasn't the sort to adhere to these sort of rules. In fact, he'd probably call it-

"Blackmail." Sirius stated, as soon as James had finished telling him, and Lily laughed delightedly.

"You could call it that."

"It's not blackmail! It's a fair trade."

"It's a sad day," the dog animagus smirked, "when a so-called charmer can only get a girl to go out with him for a Transfiguration project."

"Shut up! It's not like that."

"Isn't it?"

Lily decided it was best that she leave them to it as they began to play-fight in the corridors. _Really_, she thought, _they're sixteen_, but let it pass. Their youthfulness was quite cute sometimes, anyway.

That reminded her; she wanted to take a dare after lessons, or she'd fall even further behind points-wise.

---

Seeing as they were studying at NEWT level, and it was a Sunday, Lily had two lessons after Transfiguration before retiring to the common room with Remus, chatting animatedly with him about Ancient Runes. It seemed that she was the only person Remus knew who was actually interested in the subject – even though she hadn't taken it, as she had been forced to pursue other subjects that would important to her future career, rather than those that were simply hobbies.

As they entered the common room together, Lily noticed that James and Sirius were already there. Not that she was eavesdropping – of course not – but she couldn't help but overhear that James was attempting to get the other boy to leave Severus alone, too, which was definitely a good thing. It showed he was putting effort into it, at least.

Remus caught the smile on her face, even if she didn't.

Dragging her mind away from thoughts of her magical contract, she turned her head back towards Lupin. "I'm going to take a dare."

"Oh?"

However, Remus' reply was drowned out by James shouting "Really?" at the top of his lungs, and catapulting himself over the back of the sofa to sit on the arm of the chair in front of her. "I'll be your audience."

Clearly, she thought, he was in one of those flirtatious moods of his. She had hoped he had stopped having these hyper moments, and would have told him so, but the small crowd of players had gathered, so she refrained from comment, and instead reached up and to take an orange ("Ooh, risky," said Sirius). "_Whenever anyone new hears about 'Can You, Can't You', they always seem to say, "What, you mean like Truth or Dare?" which, quite frankly, irks me to the core. There is an endless chasm between CYCY and Truth or Dare – and that chasm is the word 'truth'. However, all that is about to change if you accept this challenge. Can you tell the truth? Answer the five following questions honestly in front of an audience of at least seven people to win. Careful; honesty is definitely the best policy here… that is, if you want to avoid a fear forfeit. Worth: 350 points._" Although she was slightly nervous of the term 'fear forfeit', Lily looked up with a smile on her face. "This shouldn't be too bad, really. I'll do it."

Sirius smirked; clearly, this was one of his. He received an elbow in the ribs for his trouble from James, who nodded expectantly and encouraged her, "Go on, what's the first one?"

The redhead glanced back down at the paper, where the first question had appeared. "_What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?_" she read aloud for the benefit of the others. "I think it'd have to be your contribution to Valentine's Day last year, James."

Peter grinned. "Yeah. I think maybe the confetti was a bit much, mate."

"Nah, it was the singing house-elves that did it, and I'm incessantly proud to announce that that was completely my idea." Lounging back in the chair a little further as he basked in the attention the line was giving him, Sirius lifted his shirt slightly in order to absent-mindedly scratch his stomach. The action didn't go un-noticed.

The werewolf laughed. "Sirius, you're such a poseur."

"Ah, and you wouldn't have it any other way; you know you love me, really."

They were both silenced then, aware that this was frighteningly close to the truth, and James attempted to pull the conversation back into flow again by making fun of himself.

"I suppose you could say it was slightly excessive of me, yes. Were you really that embarrassed? If it was me, I'd be…"

"…flattered. Yes, I know." James was surprised. He hadn't thought that she knew him well enough to predict the end of such sentences yet. He put it down to a possible talent for judging people. "The thing is, Potter, the entire hall was looking, and laughing, and thinking exactly how ridiculous it was, and I'm sure you're aware that I don't like to be the centre of attention."

She wasn't really being stern, although she was pretending to be, and he knew it. In order to keep up with her act, he put a hand over his heart, solemnly. "Well, I apologise," He coughed, and, recalling the exact words he and Sirius had asked the house-elves to chant, "my sweet little redheaded Lily-flower."

Everyone laughed, and she went red, but she was giggling, too, and didn't feel the humiliation that she had the first time round. She liked the idea that this was because she had developed as a person, but she knew that it was far more likely that she had just gotten used to James and his quirky sense of humour and quietly affectionate nature.

"Alright, question two." The noise dropped again so that she could be heard. "_What sort of_ _**underwear**__ are you wearing?_" She accentuated the word that she couldn't believe she was reading, which sent Sirius into one of his torrents of laughter. "Sirius!"

He managed to regain his composure. "Yes?"

"Why did you include this as a question?"

"It's interesting."

"Not that he can describe half of the school's pants already, or anything." James stated innocently, looking down at his nails and barely concealing a grin. As he had expected, it had all been taken in good humour.

At least, most of the crowd had. One person, clutching an Ancient Runes book in his hands, was sharply surprised to find that this simple jibe from the head boy had felt remarkably like a stab wound, but said nothing.

"Answer the question, then." Sirius prompted, and then added in a mock-whisper, "The odds are three to one on plain pink."

She laughed along with the rest, before saying, "They're blue, actually, with little daisies on, in a sort of boxer-shorts shape. Is that enough detail?" Her voice was dripping with friendly sarcasm.

"Nuh-uh," replied James, leaning forward with his eyes wide and his mouth open, pretending to drool.

She shook her head at him. "Sometimes I wonder about your sanity."

"Really? That's weird; me too!" He ran a hand through his hair. "We have so much in common."

Raising her eyebrows in mockery, she said, "Moving on, then," which she was pleasantly surprised to find received a laugh. "_If you had to kiss a Professor, who would it be?_ Eurgh, Sirius Black, that is disgusting."

He winked, and spoke with sincerity. "Thank you."

"This is going to take some thought. Alright. None of the female Professors-"

"Damn it!" interrupted James, who was proving himself to be exactly as hyper as she had originally feared. She decided not to comment, even though she could hear Sirius laughing and whispering something to James about 'sick fantasies' involving herself and Professor Sprout, who pulled away and mimed sticking fingers down his throat.

"I think it would have to be…" she blushed. "It would have to be Professor Ford."

Directly from a conversation involving the very same, Lily's best friends, twins Charlie and Delia Dawson looked up as if someone had been shot. "Professor Ford? Who _wouldn't_?"

Sirius laughed from his position on the chair opposite. "Hell, I know I would."

Charlie, the eldest, glanced up to meet his eyes, an amused smile decorating her face, which was entirely different from her non-identical twin sister's. It was impossible to tell if she was blushing as her long dark hair was covering most of her face, a technique that seemed to have been practised for that exact purpose.

It was common knowledge that the eldest of the Dawson twins had a substantial crush on Sirius. However, it was also common knowledge that the eldest of the Dawson twins had also, on several occasions, shared kisses with Sirius, and it was unclear whether or not anything was actually going on between them – which, Lily knew, was agonising for her best friend.

That was one of the reasons she had decided to eternally detest Sirius; he had never really let Charlie know where she stood. That, it seemed, was his way, as goodness knew how many girls he had hanging from every word escaping from those lips that they so longed to touch with their own.

It was hardly _her_ fault that he was so damned _likeable_.

James' thoughts were far from the Dawson twins and Sirius, however. He was wondering exactly how much he had in common, appearance-wise, with Professor Ford.

The second of the twins, Delia, noticed that her sister was beginning to gaze at Sirius a little too much to be subtle, and made a direct attempt at stopping her from doing so. "We could salivate over Professor Ford forever, but that won't get us anywhere, seeing as he's married." She held the back of her hand up and wiggled her fingers, indicating the silver marriage band he wore on his ring finger. "What's the next question?"

Lily looked at the paper again, where there was a list of the three questions she had already answered. The fourth appeared, and she scanned it before reading it aloud. Upon finishing it, she shook her head. "Sirius Black, I swear to God."

"What's he done now?" Peter said, having taken a bite from an apple he had taken from his pocket, spraying little amounts of his food everywhere within a ten-centimetre radius of himself.

Declining to comment on both Peter's question and his appalling sense manners, she simply read out the question. "_Who's the best looking, sexy, dark-haired marauder on the Gryffindor Quidditch team?_"

"Ladies and gentlemen, here we have a prime example of the over-stroked ego." Remus announced with a sweep of his hand, which, at the end of its path, was pointed towards Sirius, who grinned.

"Thought I'd drop an easy one in there."

"What do you mean by easy?" Lily asked.

Sirius didn't like the look on her face. It suggested that she'd outwitted him somehow, and it un-nerved him. "There's only one thing you can answer?" he tried, but realised his mistake immediately.

"I think you'll find," she said, entirely at leisure, "that there are, in fact, two possible answers to this question."

James sat up straight, seeing what she was getting at. "And you'd consider the second option?"

She didn't answer him; she didn't even look at him. Instead, she looked straight at Sirius, who seemed quite annoyed with himself for not writing 'Gryffindor chaser' instead of 'on the Gryffindor Quidditch team'. "Purely for the purposes of deflating Sirius' ego slightly, I'll say Potter."

"I can rib you for that, too." The author of the challenge pointed out, running a hand through his hair, horrified that anyone could ever think of James Potter as better looking than him. He was a total pretty-boy, with silly hair. Wasn't he?

"Not so much." Lily replied smartly, a satisfied smile on her face. "And the last one…" Confident, now, she looked at the paper again.

"Lily?" Delia asked after a moment, twirling a lock of her curly blonde hair around a finger. The redhead had gone immediately pale. "What does it say?"

"_Who do you have a crush on_," she replied, and immediately continued, "but I forfeit." She placed the paper down on the table before her as though it was just another scrap of parchment, and stood back from it.

"Oh, come on!"

"That's easy to answer."

"Surely she knew that was coming?"

She shook her head at all the comments from the others, and took a seat with Charlie and Delia, who were sharing a look.

Remus looked in her direction, brow creased in thought. Normally, she wouldn't forfeit in the face of something usually so easy to admit. Therefore, there had to be some sort of difficulty for her, and he couldn't help but speculate. "Is it because the person is here?"

"I-"

Everyone knew immediately that he had hit the nail on the head due to her reaction, but instead of the satisfaction he had been expecting to feel, he felt dreadful. She had turned a violent shade of red, and appeared to be in some sort of internal pain. He hadn't meant for _this_ to happen, he just… well, he hadn't thought about it. It was just curiosity.

The poor girl stood up almost dizzily, bombarded by questions about the person's looks, their personality, and their name. She managed to speak, if only to say, "I've got to go now," before stepping as quickly as possible over to the portrait and leaving the common room.

Remus could have died with guilt. He hadn't _thought_, he hadn't _thought_. Sickened with himself, he stood up to go and see if she was alright, but was beaten to the task by James, who had clambered straight after her.

He sighed, and sat back down. Well, that was that. Perhaps he should think about getting his kiss for the day – that might take his mind off having _ruined_ Lily's evening for a while, at least. All of a sudden, he looked up, and caught the eye of the dark-haired twin, who was looking at him with a sort of interested curiosity he hadn't seen before.

"Charlie?" he began with a hint of persuasion already creeping into his tone and heightening his voice.

---

James' first choice of sport might have been Quidditch, but that didn't mean he didn't like to dabble in others, too, and the fact that running was one of the other forms of exercise he liked was the main reason he managed to catch up with Lily so quickly.

"Lily!" he called, but she didn't stop, and he was forced to put his hand on her shoulder to halt her. "Lily, are you OK?"

She turned on her heel, one of her prepared lines settled in her mouth, but the words wouldn't leave her tongue, and she settled for a weak and slightly breathless, "No. Not exactly."

James toyed with the idea of pulling her into a hug, but realised that she'd probably hate him for it, and instead patted her on the shoulder before removing his hand. "It's alright. They'll forget about it tomorrow."

"It's not that!" she replied, her voice slightly squeaky with her attempts at preventing frustrated tears. She breathed in deeply to calm herself down, and spoke again in a more composed tone. "Well, it's not just that. It's more that I… well… the first name I thought of…" she shook her head. "James, I… this person. He's-

"You don't have to tell me."

"I wasn't going to."

"But you…"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"No!" she frowned, more irritated that their conversation was making no sense whatsoever than anything. "James, I just don't like telling people who I like, OK? You can tell everybody that. That's all it was."

"Okay." He knew it wasn't the truth, but he wasn't about to say so, especially when she was so upset. "Listen, do you want me to come back with you? I can talk to you for a bit if you like. It might help you feel better."

"It's not _you_, James!" she said irritably, and regretted saying it instantly. It seemed that she had read him wrong – he hadn't been implying what she thought he had after all. And now, apparently, she'd really hurt his feelings. He had shrunken back slightly, and wasn't meeting her eyes any more.

He paused for a moment, then nodded – _I see_ - and turned around without another word.

As soon as she arrived back at the heads' dormitory, it was the pain she'd inflicted on him – especially as he was being so genuinely _sweet_ - that made the tears fall rather than the humiliation of knowing that it was his name that had been pulled to mind as soon as she had read the question.

---

Remus only pulled away from Charlie when he heard the sound of glass smashing. In fact, he'd been quite enjoying it up until then, and couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed that something so trivial should interrupt his fourth kiss.

As soon as he looked at the source of the commotion, however, his feelings changed entirely. Sirius' hand was clamped in a fist, his face was like thunder, and deeply scarlet blood was trickling from his hand. "Sirius!" he said, shocked, and abandoned Lily's best friend to attend to his own. "What did you do that for? Let me look. Open your hand."

The dark-haired boy threw him a look that showed Remus exactly how enthusiastic he was about following the werewolf's instruction. Remus, however, took his friend's hand in his own and gently straightened Sirius' fingers from the fist they had been locked in, with a lot more assistance from Sirius than was first expected.

There was still a bit of shattered glass sticking in the boy's palm, but he didn't seem to care or notice. In fact, he was looking in the other direction at something – nothing? – which was seemingly far more interesting than his own bloodied limbs. Remus found him drawing his breath in through his teeth, hissing, at the nature of the injury.

"What?" Sirius asked petulantly, but the other boy knew that he wasn't really angry, and didn't answer. He set about removing the glass piece by piece, slowly so that he could extend the excuse for holding the chaser's hand for as long as possible, and then healed the wound over with his wand.

"There."

"Thank you." said Sirius, disguising his gratefulness with a gruff quality to his voice.

"You don't fool me." Remus replied, and offered him a little smile. "Come on, then. Tell me why you did it."

"Don't know." He replied unhelpfully. "I'm just… frustrated." Only at this last word – by which they both knew he meant 'jealous' - did he allow his eyes to meet Remus', and for the second time that night, the sandy-haired boy felt the pang of guilt.

Of course. Charlie was one of Sirius' favourites. How could he have been so careless?

"Sirius," he began, "I'm so sorry. I forgot you liked her."

The dog animagus shuffled in order to find a position that helped his confidence. "What gave you the impression I was talking about her?" Remus blushed, which pleased Sirius enough to make him smile again.

Perhaps there was hope yet.

**Twenty-one pages! My longest chapter, ever! (boogie)**


	7. Can You Tell?

Ah, it's that time again! By which I mean – Halloween. I wanted to go out dressed as the son of my main pairing… ah, the angst. Well, at least we know they get there at some point!

**To clarify – it is indeed Lily and James that are my main couple. Not Sirius and Remus. I am sorry, but mpreg is wrong. All wrong. To the depths of wrongness, and the pits of despair. Also, it would be unfair to put Padfoot and Moony over the others today, seeing as it is the 26****th**** anniversary of Lily and James' death as I write. That's the same amount of time as they lived, and it's very sad. Ahh.**

**There goes my sanity. Watch it fly away on a fast hippogriff… whee!**

**And thus I end my drabble.**

**Chapter Seven**

"She hates me. That's the only explanation. She hates me."

Remus was, as ever, the reluctant voice of reason. "James, you're just being over-dramatic."

"No! No, I'm not! Why else would she…? Okay. Okay." He geared himself up to explain with an expression of his, and prepared his hand for the gestures.

"Oh, Christ," said Sirius, who knew what was coming.

"Let's just say I'm on a broom, right? And she's cheering me on in the crowd, going nuts, and it spurs me on. So I'm really high up, right, and I look down at her and she's smiling at me, and I'm about to reach out and catch the snitch, _just for her_, and then she _jinxes_ my _broom_!"

After a moment's silence, Sirius groaned and tilted his face forward to meet his hands. "You are hopeless. You are hopeless, and even total love-gods like myself are unable to assist. You, my friend, are drowning in anti-masculinity."

Peter gasped, but he was ignored, because it was clearly deliberate, even if he was pretending it wasn't.

"I think the best thing to do would be to go back to the heads' dormitory and act as if nothing has happened." Disregarding both Sirius and Peter's unhelpful contributions, Remus offered his advice. "Joke around with her as if she hasn't said anything; that type of thing. She'll either regret saying it, or realise she didn't mean it." He paused. "Come to think of it, she might not have meant it the way you've taken it in the first place."

The seeker looked up. "Mm. What if she tells me off for messing around?"

"Then you act like a wounded puppy, as usual, you pansy." Sirius grinned, and punched him in the arm. "Not like you to be blinded by love, Jamie."

"Not like you to be blind _to_ it." Remus said quietly, meeting the more confident boy's gaze for only a second. A second, however, was long enough, and Sirius was sent into a guilty silence. "Seriously, James. Go now, pretend nothing has happened, and you'll be back on your feet with it all in no time."

"You think?"

"I do." Remus nodded, assuring himself as much as James. He was sure that Sirius was thinking the same as he was; that the werewolf was by no means an expert in romance, so why on earth the head boy should follow _his_ advice was anyone's guess. Although he couldn't possibly tell for sure, it hurt slightly that his best friend would think such a thing about him, and as soon as James had gone to put his plan into action, and Peter had gone to bed, he spoke up about it. "Sirius, do you think I'm pretentious for giving advice about something I know nothing about?"

"No," replied Sirius, examining his hand closely. "I think you're a good friend for trying."

"Oh."

"Did pretty well, too."

"Oh." There was a pause. "You think?"

"Would I dirty my mouth with words so soppy otherwise?" At first, Remus didn't realise he was kidding, and gaped for a bit until the other boy grinned and patted him under the chin. "You really can't tell when I'm joking, can you?"

The sandy-haired boy smiled. "Social ineptitude is my flaw."

"It's alright. I suffer the same," Sirius said, but they both knew that this was completely untrue. He turned it into an attempt at a joke by adding, "You're best asking James whether I'm kidding or not; he knows better than me."

Remus smiled, and a more-or-less comfortable silence developed as the fire died down and night enveloped the common room.

---

James awoke to find Lily in his arms. He sat up, astounded, displacing her from where she had slept; she opened her eyes. "Morning, _Sirius_," she said, and then he woke up again with a start, smoothing his hair down for once.

"Damn it."

"Good morning to you, too, Potter." This came from the real Lily, who was coming out of her bathroom, already dressed and ready. He hadn't managed to catch her the previous evening; she had already left the heads' dormitory when he arrived, presumably to go to the library or for a walk.

"Sorry, just… had a funny dream."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence which neither of them had the stomach to fill with conversation, so Lily declared her escape. "I'm going down to breakfast early. I might see you there."

"Yep." He offered a tired wave as she left the room. It was irritating – half of him wanted to talk to her about what she had said last night, if only to reassure her that the possibility that she _liked_ him hadn't even crossed his mind, and half of him wanted to never even think about it ever again.

"Aargh," he said, with no enthusiasm whatsoever, and crawled out of bed to get ready so that he could be in time to see her at breakfast – even if only literally to see her.

---

After Sirius and James had greeted each other with a long and innuendo-filled sketch that was clearly spontaneity of the prepared variety, breakfast was incredibly quiet, and the general silent agreement was that it was due to unspoken tension between the head girl and head boy. This was mainly because they kept gazing at each other, and seemed to stare intently at their plates – which remained nearly empty – every time they happened to glance at the same moment.

Lily left the table first, as soon as she had finished her toast, and James followed quickly, fifteen seconds later, swallowing the rest of his cup of coffee in one, and putting his bag on as he walked.

The dark-haired chaser shook his head and whistled as soon as they were both out of earshot. "It's almost painful."

"Mm," was all Remus had to offer, believing that his advice had only worsened the situation. His appetite loosened and fell, and he pushed his plate away. "I'm finished, but I'm not following them up to Charms on my own."

"Rem, they're not going to bite."

"No, but it'll be incredibly awkward."

"Yeah," agreed Sirius passively, and shovelled a forkful of bacon into his mouth unabashedly. "D'you reckon Lily will get away with not doing a forfeit?"

"I doubt it. One thing about this game is that all the players like to see each other squirm."

"You know me so well."

"_Too_ well," clarified Remus, which left Sirius feeling more than a little shunned and inadequate, and unable to prevent himself from thinking, '_Now who doesn't know whether someone's joking?'_

---

"Aha!" was all James had said to get thrown out of Charms, but then again, he supposed he had said it during a minor exam, and loudly enough to be the equivalent of saying it a thousand times over. He repeated it to himself once he had relaxed into his position leaning against the wall outside of the classroom, albeit far more quietly. "Aha."

He hadn't really been thinking about the essay question he had been supposed to be answering about concealment charms, anyway. He had been thinking that Lily's hair looked very nice this morning, and had she started using a new shampoo? It looked that way.

Thoughts of shampoo had made him instantly think of _Snivellus_, and how he could do with a _wash_, and then, in a flash of inspiration, an idea had hit him.

The way to Lily's heart was through Snape!

Even the thought sounded filthy in his mind, but it had to be done if he wanted to prove himself to her; and if it was going to work, he was going to have to make a bigger effort than just greeting the greaseball in the corridor.

Then, for the second time, a thought hit him, and this time, the overwhelming feeling of being an absolute genius could not be constrained behind a mask of silence.

"Mr. Potter, kindly wait outside." Flitwick had said, raising a disdainful eyebrow.

It took a lot of willpower to refrain from saying, "Sir, I have just had a moment of pure genius, and no mere mortal can dampen the spirit of my knowledge,"

He'd have to recall that one to Sirius later; one of them could probably adapt it for use on McGonagall.

That, however, was beside the point – the question at hand was how best to implement this plan of his, and exactly how many people to involve.

---

The way Sirius and James were whispering between each other and then laughing madly at intervals that appeared to follow no pattern in particular was almost conspirital, and this made Lily wonder exactly what it was they were doing, and who was going to be the victim.

She would have asked, except every time she went to speak she was overwhelmed with the feeling that she was intruding somehow, which was strange, because she'd never held back with attempting to cut these silly pranks at the stem before.

It didn't help that Remus kept throwing her pointed looks. She could almost hear his thought processes willing her to talk to James, but it wasn't that easy, and he knew it. Things had _changed_, and anyway, he was busy talking to Sirius.

In fact, he was incredibly busy talking to Sirius. They'd gotten out a quill and some parchment now, and were making frantic notes on it. This, Lily knew from years of experience, meant that whatever they were plotting would happen later today.

She realised that she had begun staring into space, and jolted herself back into consciousness with the realisation that James had been looking right back at her. Flipping her fringe over her face to try and divert his gaze, she quickly directed her own towards the desk, and in the midst of the hot embarrassment that was crippling her, all thoughts of what the boys were organising were lost.

---

For once in their lives, Sirius and James were in the library for reasons other than pulling pranks or annoying Remus - they couldn't help it; it was so tempting to disrupt his reading time. Today, however, was business time. This idea of James' had to be implemented properly if it was going to work.

Madam Pince, of course, was hardly willing to believe that the boys' motivations for being in the library were entirely innocent, and so couldn't help but try and overhear their conversation. However, as usual, the boys were being careful with their precious plans, and she could only catch certain words. Nonetheless, those words were 'surprise', 'party', 'Snape' and 'Evans', and not for the first time in her life, Madam Pince was irritated by the fact that she was not supposed to act on snatches of conversation she had mistakenly heard.

"Padfoot, be honest. Do you think she'll like it?"

"I think she'll think it's brilliant. I think it'll take this blackmail pact of yours to a whole new level." Sirius grinned, but the head boy had missed the jibe. He thought about repeating it, but realised that James was completely lost in thought, so it would be lost on him anyway. "Seriously."

The seeker still didn't look convinced, however. "Maybe I should ask Remus."

"What, you don't trust me?" James gave his friend a reproachful look, but Sirius soldiered on. "Come on, I've got way more experience with girls and stuff than Remus does, and you know it. Just because he's _smart_ doesn't mean he's better at life than I am."

"Hey, he gets by."

"Yeah, he gets by; but the only reason he had his first kiss was because we got it for him. He can't do anything on his own."

"If he heard that…"

"Yeah, but he's not going to hear it. He's gone to History of Magic like a good boy, and _you're_ not going to tell him."

"Sirius, I thought you liked Remus?"

This invoked a pause that was far too long for comfort. "I do." he eventually replied painfully, before pausing again, and continuing with, "Let's just do this plan, OK? It'll be fun even if it crashes, and we'll get you your Lily another way if this doesn't. Promise."

For a while, James did nothing, but after what felt like a lifetime to Sirius, he nodded.

---

In the great hall that evening, nothing seemed out of place, which made Lily wonder how long it would be until James and Sirius imminently wreaked havoc on it. She knew it hadn't been cancelled - whatever it was - because they kept laughing in the middle of their conversation, and James was able to send Sirius into stitches simply by twitching his nose.

After a couple of minutes' consideration, the doors to the great hall opened and a couple of students milled inside. It appeared to be the Ravenclaw and Slytherin study group; and Sirius and James looked elated.

All of a sudden, a mass of green confetti exploded from the ceiling to the sound of a fanfare so loud it was hurting Lily's ears. Lots of the younger students had covered theirs, but removed their hands when a group of voices began speaking at the same volume.

"We love Snape!" the voices declared in a singsong tone, and went on to describe exactly why they did so.

Sirius, who was creased up in his chair, could hardly breathe, and neither could Snape himself, who had been abandoned by the other members of the inter-house study group and was frozen alone at the entrance of the great hall. Surprisingly, however, Lily couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for him. Instead, she felt sorry for James, who also looked as if his lungs had collapsed. He seemed to be waiting for some sort of reaction from her, and didn't appear to want to allow himself to do anything until he got one.

The voices' declaration of affection – which concluded with another, "We love Snape!" - ended with a short display of heart-shaped fireworks and another shower of confetti, this time directly targeted at Severus.

For a moment, there was silence, and then Lily interrupted it with a peal of uncontrollable laughter, which was followed by many other voices doing the same. She gathered her composure again, and looked over at James, who was smiling at her.

She nodded. "Very good, James."

The smile quickly transformed itself into a wild grin at this high level of praise, and after all the fuss had died down – with McGonagall's help – all the tension had lifted, and everything was normal between the twins, Lily and the marauders once more.

---

Delia had decided quite a while ago that she didn't like Sirius Black, but when he sidled over to her in the common room later that evening, she knew she would have found it difficult to send him away. "Hello, Sirius."

"Hi, Delia." He flashed her one of those smiles of his, which, she supposed, were actually as well-practised as the rumours suggested. "I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

It was then that suspicion replaced her confusion. "What do you want?"

"Well, you know Remus is doing this dare thing?"

"No way, Black. Sorry."

"Aw, please! Why not?" He was giving her the puppy dog eyes; she had to look away. "He's really sweet."

"I know he's sweet, thanks. I don't want to _kiss_ him, though."

There was silence for a few moments while Sirius pondered which of his pre-prepared lines to use. Like everyone else who knew him, Delia was used to this, and waited patiently for his response. However, by the time he spoke, all his pretty words seemed to have abandoned him. "Oh, come on! I'll make it worth your while."

"Sirius, I do _not_ like you."

Now, he looked totally gathered as he looked at her sideways and said, "Charlie does."

"Blackmail." she said, "Total and utter blackmail."

He shrugged. "Whatever gets me my way."

Delia tucked her blonde, wavy hair behind her ears. "I don't really understand why you want me to, anyway. He can do it himself; in fact, he's been doing really well."

"Yeah, but it's… er… a bit…" he coughed. "Painful. For me."

She laughed shortly, then realised he was serious. "Painful?"

"Yes." He went on to rush his explanation, and Delia was surprised to find herself feeling sorry for Sirius. It was the first time she'd ever seen him speaking in a total unprepared nervous shambles. "It's just, I really quite like him, and if he keeps kissing people who have the potential to want to go out with him then eventually he might find someone, and I really couldn't handle that, so this way he thinks he's getting kisses his way but I'm in control and it'll be OK when his seven days are up 'cos he won't have found anyone but _me_."

Normally, Delia would have refused such a ridiculous request indignantly, but with such a hopeless Sirius and the chance to get Charlie a date with him on the cards, she couldn't resist. "Alright, then. I'll kiss Remus."

He grinned, having settled back into his confidence. "Thanks, Delia. And, er… don't tell anyone, will you?"

"As if I would!"

The two parted with a nod from both of them, and Sirius wandered over to 'kick James' arse' at wizard chess; a task at which he then proceeded to fail.

Twenty minutes after James had finished teasing his friend for losing, Remus arrived back in the common room, five library books clutched in his arms. Delia couldn't help but notice that he really was, in Sirius' words, quite sweet, and thanked Merlin that it was Remus and not Peter who had been dared to kiss seven people.

She gave him time to plant his books down on the table next to Sirius and James and get comfortable in the chair before she wandered over and took the seat next to him. "Hi, Remus."

"Hello, Delia." He gave her a tired smile. In fact, she mused, it was more than tired – the boy looked completely exhausted, and very pale. Maybe he just hadn't slept for a while; she sometimes suffered the same.

"That's a lot of books."

"Um, yes. I wanted to look into herb relaxants in modern potion-making…" he trailed off, realising that no-one really understood what he was talking about, or much cared about herb relaxants. He was baffled as to why someone like Delia would come over especially to talk to him, anyway. It couldn't be the books; she hated reading. "How are you, anyway?"

"I'm alright." She brushed the question away like it didn't matter, and Remus had a sudden foreboding sense that she was about to get to the point. He barely restrained himself from gulping. "Listen, how are you doing with this dare of yours?"

In a rush of clarity, the werewolf understood, and he was suddenly in the mood to run up to the dormitories, fix the curtains magically closed and write his diary – journal - by wandlight under the covers. He knew, however, that this would be impolite, stupid, and ridiculously cowardly. Shyness could only go so far. "Well, I suppose." He decided to answer her question before she asked it. "I haven't done today's. Yet." He spoke the last word quietly, as if he was reluctant to say it.

"Do you want me to help out? It is getting a bit late." She smiled, trying to relieve some of his nerves.

"Well, er, if you don't mind, ah… that would be very nice of you."

"No problem." She replied, and realising that he never would, leaned in to kiss him.

Sirius found the usual jealousy arising, especially as this one was quite literally under his nose, but managed to keep it under control. Nothing was going to happen with Delia. She knew where to stop.

Sure enough, she pulled away, and smiled at him. "There. Only two left now, is that right?"

"Yep." He looked down and scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. He always got the impression that after each of the people he had kissed pulled away they instantly began critically dissecting his beginners' technique, which unnerved him. "Ah, thanks, Delia."

"Like I said, no problem." She smiled at him again, and stood up. Smoothing her hair back into a ponytail with her hands, she looked at Sirius – you owe me – and walked away to go and sit with Charlie, who looked like she would explode if an explanation wasn't given.

Remus waited until she was a fair distance away, and then breathed out. "What was that all about?"

Unaware of Sirius' dealings, James grinned. "Word must have gotten around about how much of a tongue demon you are."

"Oh, shush." He blushed, but smiled, and began reading the book from the top of the pile.

Sirius lounged back in his chair, closing his eyes. Well, that had been a little easier. He'd have to arrange something for the next two days and then the week of hell would be over. He was lost in thoughts of who he could ask when suddenly, he felt a tap on his arm. It felt remarkably like folded paper.

Upon opening his eyes, he found that it _was_ folded paper, in the shape of a dare aeroplane, and that it had probably come from James, who was looking at him expectantly.

Idly, he unfolded the parchment and read what was written. His face went even paler than usual. "No. No, no. I can't." He scrumpled up the paper into a ball and shoved it at James before walking less than calmly upstairs, ruffling up his hair at the very idea.

The head boy sighed, unfolding the dare he had sent.

_Tell him how you really feel._


	8. Can You Wear A Silly Hat?

Hello again! I'm sorry if you didn't like chapter seven; I didn't, either. This time, Lily's forfeit shall be dealt with, sort of! Enjoy, I hope, and sorry that seven took so long. I've been very busy!

I was going to say something else. Oh, yes, the last chapter title. As I usually name the chapters after the dare that is given or taken, I didn't want to change that pattern, but couldn't give the full dare name without spoiling the 'dramatic' (oh yes) ending of the last chapter, so it had to be 'Can You Tell?'. I'm sorry. I know it's similar to 'Can You Tell The Truth?'. This one is vair different to make up for it.

I apologise now for the rubbishy-ness of Google Translator; but then again, Sirius' French would be bound to be seriously flawed anyway!

Before I carry on, I think you might find it amusing to know that where the section breaks are, I type a sentence instead of the breaks as I write and then add the lines in afterwards. Why? I don't know, but here are a couple of the sentences I've used before:

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside.

We like chicken tandoori.

Sirius Black's bringing sexy back (but not with his back).

Who's got a match?

What's my age again?

There's a panic at the disco – it's a sin and a tragedy.

lol

ah l0v3 l33t, d0 j00?

Sorry; I just thought they deserved a mention. On with the show!

Chapter Eight 

The next morning in Potions, James was still trying to persuade Sirius that his unofficial challenge was worth having a go at. "Come on, you muppet. The worst that can happen is a blush."

"And that's _not_ eternally damning?" Padfoot looked up from his cauldron full of water, which he was using as a mirror to apply his eyeliner.

"You and your bloody pride, Sirius Black. As if our Rems is going to mind if you colour up a bit."

Throwing his friend a withering glance having worried that the friend in question might overhear, the chaser uttered some of the most colourful language he – and indeed his beloved Johnny Rotten – could muster. Unfortunately, at the same time, the room had silenced itself in order to accommodate Professor McGonagall, who was covering for Slughorn.

"Mr. Black," she said, in a tone that suggested even though she'd heard it all before, she'd prefer not to hear it again. "I propose you extend your vocabulary."

Flicking into defiant mode, Sirius sat up a little straighter and began to speak with fluent ease in that coolly self-assured tone that only he could carry off. "With regards to your esteemed opinion, Professor, I'd be disinclined to accept your accusation that my articulacy is anything but the optimum, and in fact, I'd be willing to proffer the notion that to encumber me with any additional expressions I've been incapable of committing to memory previously would be entirely superfluous and egotistical. Moreover, my revered mistress of the spoken arts, an accurately up-to-date grasp of the English language is quintessential to those who wish to consider themselves masters of the oral vocabulary. Are there any further uncertainties or discrepancies concerning the way I verbalise?"

Weakened by Sirius' ability to answer back endlessly and hold his own, she flapped her hand at him, sighing. "No, none."

As she took her seat at the teachers' desk at the front of the class, Sirius leaned over to James, grinning, and whispered, "Having toffs for parents does have its advantages."

"Teach me," James replied, "and I shall worship you."

"But, Jamie," he ruffled up his hair, "you already do."

Playfights ensued, and although Sirius and James' wonderful elaborations on the truth were quite amusing to watch combined with a furious McGonagall and a puddle of Veritaserum on the floor, Remus couldn't help but wish they'd get back to the original topic so he could continue to eavesdrop in peace.

---

By the end of third lesson, Sirius and James had calmed down after the hyperness that had possessed them in the earlier morning, and Lily decided it was probably safe to approach them again for lunch. "Afternoon, boys," she greeted them, sliding onto the bench beside Peter, who appeared to suffer from some sort of small heart attack at the thought of a girl willingly taking the seat next to him. The head girl pretended not to notice as she smiled at the other three and placed two cheese sandwiches – both brown bread – on her plate. "Did you have a good morning?"

"It was good, thank you," replied Remus, but his answer was, yet again, drowned out by a louder voice.

"You're cheerful." remarked Sirius brightly. "Who's walking around with your lipstick on their face?"

"Padfoot!" Remus elbowed him, but then realised how stupid he must have sounded rebuking his friend and yet still using his childish nickname, and coughed before trying again. "Sirius! Shut up!"

The guilty party grinned and lifted up the plate with the chicken on it to slide about a third of its contents onto his own. "May as well cut to the chase, right?"

"Yes, I quite agree, Sirius. It's always best to just _cut to the chase_." James said innocently, buttering a slice of white and focusing his eyes on that rather than his friend.

The aforementioned shrunk back into his seat. "Alright, alright," he muttered, and added even more inaudibly, "Bit below the belt."

"Yes, well that's where you have to aim with you, isn't it?" Peter commented, grinning, but as usual, his attempt at humour was lost on the others.

"I'm not sure I understand," said Lily in reference to what had passed between the two louder marauders, and looked to James for explanation, but he shook his head.

Sirius sat back up again, having been reminded of something. "Ah, yes, that is a common problem with you, isn't it, Miss Evans?"

"Excuse me?" She blinked, which both Remus and James recognised as the first sign of danger. The seeker flashed his friend the 'watch it' glance, but was ignored.

"I think you'll find that the day before yesterday, you failed to complete your challenge. In fact, you forfeited; and seeing as I wrote the dare, it's my forfeit to call."

"Alright." Her eyebrows lowered slightly. Stage two, Remus thought, and rolled his shoulders back in an attempt to relax himself. He wasn't sure he liked Sirius as much when he came over all competitive, especially with someone like Lily who was clearly uncomfortable with someone as wild as him being in charge of her forfeit. "What are you going to have me do, then?"

"And nothing to do with…" James trailed off before flicking his eyes to Lily, who was eyeing him curiously, and mouthing the final word, "…sex."

"Would I?" Sirius replied in a tone that suggested oh yes, he really would. "No, I think we'll make this one a little bit scary."

James kicked him under the table. _Go easy_.

"Lily," said the tallest marauder, leaning further over the table and adopting a charming smile that was quite unnerving in context. "what are you frightened of?"

---

With his tongue poking out the side of his mouth like a child's might, Sirius signed his name with a flourish at the bottom of the parchment he'd been working on for the past twenty minutes. "There," he announced, "Finished." At this, the rest of the 'Can You, Can't You?' crowd milled around him. They'd remained pretty much inactive since Lily's eventful set of truths, and were eager to see the follow-up forfeit that Sirius had been preparing ever since he'd returned to the common room from his last lesson. With a raised eyebrow and a cat-that-got-the-cream smile, he handed the paper to Lily, who began to read aloud, her own eyebrows raising as she realised what she had to do.

"_Seeing as I couldn't answer my set of truths, my challenge has been deemed a failure and I must accept a forfeit given to me by the author of the original dare. In this case, that person is the wonderful, intelligent and dashing Sirius Black, and he has thought long and hard to invent a suitable and challenging forfeit for me, having taken the fears and dislikes on my Can You? entry form into account. That sexual deviant, Sirius,"_ she paused to shoot the boy in question a murderous glance, "_has decided that tomorrow at seven, I must spend five minutes in a dark broom closet._" She swallowed. "_O' Esteemed Lord of Sex has also, on the advice of one Prong-headed friend in particular, deemed it appropriate that I am allowed to take one friend into the closet with me for comfort, support, and accurate timekeeping lest I lose my fiery red head. Wish me luck._"

"Is that alright?" James jumped in as she spoke the last words, unwilling to allow her to put herself in a position she'd find too uncomfortable.

As much as she'd have liked to say 'No,' she knew it wouldn't be fair to have James change her forfeit – and plus, it would have made her seem even more cowardly. "Yes, that's fine, thank you." She smiled at him to show that she was grateful for his concern, and received a pleasantly genuine smile of his back.

He gave Sirius a run for his money sometimes, when he smiled.

Total death and die

After ten minutes of an empty chasm of no activity, James was well and truly dying from the boredom. "Padfoot, old chum," he declared, "I am bored."

Sirius seemed to have been waiting for this to be announced. "Excellent!"

"No, no, old bean. Terrible! Boredom. Bad."

"No, it's great, because in your weakened state you may be inclined to accept my deal!"

"Oh, God," James said, sensing that he wasn't going to come out of this deal very well if he agreed to it. "What is this going to involve?"

"My friend, you sound suspicious."

"That's because I'm not stupid."

"You wound me, Prongs." He paused for effect, hoping that James would whine 'Tell me, tell me!', thus giving Sirius the upper hand. He didn't, however, so he decided to just go ahead and say it. "I want you to kiss Remus."

He had known that the initial reaction to this suggestion would not be pretty, but he hadn't expected that James would start to choke on his own shock. "Are you clinically insane, or just borderline? I'm not _frenching_ my _friend_!"

"Neither, and maybe so." Sirius was too calm for James' liking. Normally he'd be using the puppy-dog eyes by now. He had to have something up his sleeve; and if it wasn't up his sleeve, it was certainly up the ominous smile that was creeping onto his face. "But you haven't heard the other half of the deal yet."

The head boy raised one of his eyebrows. "Go on."

"If you," he tilted his head; this would have meant nothing even to body language experts, but James managed to interpret it as 'kiss Remus', "I will accept your little dare."

He was visibly tempted to accept, but after thinking for a couple of seconds, shook his head. "Sirius, I know what you're up to with your little 'I Will Not Allow Remus Lupin To Find Happiness With Anyone Other Than Me' doctrine, and I won't kiss Remus."

He had been about to continue with an alternative offer, but his friend jumped in before he managed to. "Aw, Jimmy! It's foolproof! You're straight!"

"Exactly!" replied a frustrated James. "I'm _straight_!"

"_Exactement, __mon chérubin coquin!_"

"Did you just call me a _cheeky cherub_?"

Sirius winked. "What can I say? My French is limited. Calling girls cherubs gets you places, and I've heard them call me cheeky often enough to pick it up."

Rolling his eyes, James grinned. "Anyway, you didn't let me finish. What I was going to say was, I won't kiss Remus – but I will find someone 'safe' to do the job for me if you'll hold your end of the bargain."

The dog animagus narrowed his eyes. "Do you know what you're looking for?"

"'Course I do. Would I let my Paddy down?"

"Without a doubt."

A couple of 'Oh yeah?'s and 'You think?'s later, a playfight ensued, and looked as if it was the type that wouldn't end for a while yet. However, it was soon to be interrupted by a small, nervous-sounding voice which made them stop in their tracks.

"Um, everyone? Do you think it would count if I kissed the same person twice?" As if Remus had some sort of silencing power, the common room went so quiet you could have heard Delia's earring drop onto the table, which it did; she had been about to put it back in again when the werewolf had spoken. He seemed unnerved by this silence. "Just… because."

All of the people Remus had kissed – save for the Ravenclaw, Samantha, of course – happened to be sitting in the room as he spoke, which he definitely hadn't planned for. There was Rachel, the introverted wallflower who had openly expressed that she had a crush on him to the girls in her dormitory; Sirius, of course, who had now untangled himself from attacking James and was now sitting in a chair, sophisticated and effortlessly sexy; Charlie, who he knew had only helped him out as a friend and Delia, who looked far more interested than her sister.

The eldest twin looked at her sister, whose eyes were riveted on the sandy-haired boy. Yesterday, Delia had only said that she had helped out Remus with his dare in exchange for a favour, but in a moment of clarity, Charlie understood how her sister felt – even if the girl herself didn't - and decided to do something about it. "Well, I'd say it's fine so long as you tell us all who it is you're thinking of kissing again."

There was a murmur of agreement, but Remus seemed reluctant to comply. "I'd rather not. I mean; the person might not… well, _probably_ won't want to kiss me again anyway. So I'd just be embarrassing myself."

"You don't know that," encouraged James gently, perched on the arm of a chair, and elbowed Sirius, who was sitting in it.

"Shut up," replied the chaser, stupidly, and very uncharacteristically, coloured slightly. He pushed James off the arm of his chair and forced him to stand in revenge, and tried to roll his eyes at Moony as if to say 'What is he like?' but instead caught his gaze by accident.

Suddenly, Remus realised that this morning, he had been completely wrong. He had assumed that James was badgering Sirius to tell him that he didn't want to have anything more to do with him romantically, and now he recognised that he was wrong, for which he was thankful. However, this happiness came with a price; even though he knew that Sirius would consent another kiss, it would be even more embarrassing to admit it now that it would have been in the first place. All he could do was shake his head and allow his hair, which was getting longer as it hadn't been cut for a couple of weeks, to flop over his eyes.

"Oh, well." Charlie said, feeling sorry for him but unwilling to sway the original rules she had set down. "I'm sure it will be just as easy to find another person."

"Actually," Sirius stated, lounging back against the chair with his eyes closed in order to fake nonchalance, "it's my game, and I'm giving him permission."

There was a pause, and then Peter voiced the thoughts everyone knew Sirius didn't want spoken – especially not by the boy he had always considered to be more tagalong than friend. "Well, we all know why _you're_ giving him permission, don't we?"

Dangerously, one of the chaser's eyes opened.

"Bit uncalled for, Pete," James tried tentatively, foreseeing things getting quite ugly, but Padfoot's fuse had already well and truly blown.

"Actually, Peter," Sirius said, in a tone that suggested he never wanted to sense his presence ever again, "you can go to hell, because I really couldn't give a fuck what you think."

He could have chosen something far worse to say, of course, but being who he was, he didn't have to. The implications of what he was saying alone were by far enough; to be cast out of Sirius Black's circle of friends when you'd gotten so close to the centre was punishment enough. Insults could do no more damage to you.

Peter knew the only way he'd be able to undo what he'd said was to apologise straight away, and set about doing so. "I'm sorry, Sirius."

"Of course you are." His voice was dripping with disdain. "Perhaps you'd like to apologise to Remus instead…" He allowed the rest of the sentence to remain unsaid; _… because I'm certainly not going to forgive you in a hurry_.

The brown-haired boy thought fast. "Is there a way I can make it up to you?"

"I _said_ apologise to Remus."

"Oh, right. Yes." He turned to his friend, who didn't dare to offer him a comforting smile. "I'm sorry, Moony."

The werewolf cleared his throat quietly, and spoke at the same volume. "That's quite alright, Peter."

As if waiting for more instructions, the smallest marauder turned back to Sirius. In order to remove some of the tension, Charlie began a louder-than-usual conversation with Delia (who seemed slightly down now that it was clear that it was Sirius that Remus was after) about Professor Ford, and several other girls joined in to help. Slowly, a more comfortable level of noise steadied off, and Sirius opened the other eye to look at Peter. "Now you can take a dare for my entertainment, and after that you can refrain from talking to me unless spoken to for a week, six days and two hours."

Unaware that Sirius was only half-serious and that he was making himself look idiotic, Peter nodded enthusiastically, motivated by the chance of forgiveness and acceptance. "OK, I will." He snatched a green aeroplane from the air – he wasn't _that_ eager to please - and unfolded it, preparing to read aloud. "_Do people think of you as slightly foolish?_"

Sirius snorted, but in a turn of the tables, an excited Remus drowned him out, and he couldn't help but rearrange his face into a smile when he heard what his friend was saying. "Oh, this is one of mine!"

Peter carried on bravely. "_If not, they most certainly will after this challenge! Wear a silly hat to your next meal and refuse to remove it. If you daren't, you must undertake a forfeit! Worth: 150 points_."

"What do you think? I know it's not exactly _hilarious_ or that innovative, but for a start it's not bad, is it? What do you think?"

"Undeniably fantastic," stated Sirius, putting an end to Remus' drabble, and smiled, displaying his whiter-than-white teeth and closing his eyes again for the duration of the word.

"You think?"

"He thinks." James replied, grinning over at Sirius. "Petey, have you even got a silly hat?"

"Dunno." He paused for a moment, contemplating. "Will my school one count?"

"'Course it doesn't. We've all got one, you pillock," was Sirius' first and last contribution to the situation before putting his feet up and turning away.

Perhaps more helpfully, James suggested they decorate the school hat in order to make it fit Remus' definition of 'silly', and the next fifteen minutes of their time were spent in the boys' dormitories, affixing odd socks to the point of the hat.

"It looks like a palm tree," commented Peter, tugging at a Sex Pistols sock that Sirius had consented for them to use with a moody – and yet, the werewolf noticed, rather amused - nod of his head. "I think it's perfect."

The seeker took the hat from his friend and examined it from all angles. "Actually, I think it'd do better with a splash of colour. What do you think?"

Lazily lounging around on his bed, Sirius flicked his wand at the hat and what had once been a schoolboy's hat with socks tied to it was now a towering pink hat with long, plush purple feathers attached to the top, and looked like something a pantomime actress had left behind.

Peter looked horrified, but the chaser had raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for his reaction. Clearly, this was neither a joke nor a suggestion, and if he wanted to Sirius' respect back, he was going to have to wear the hat whether he liked it or not. He forced a laugh. "Brilliant! That's great. Er, 's supper in five minutes. D'you want to head down now?"

James and Remus nodded, but Sirius shook his head. "Actually, I think I'll head down a bit later. I just want five minutes."

The seeker was relieved to hear his friend talk again after what felt like ages. He really liked Remus and Peter, but he had never realised how hard it was to carry a conversation with them on his own without Sirius messing around and continually breaking the silence. "Alright," he said, and nodded towards the door, which Peter headed to like a convict on his way to the hangman's noose. He wondered if Sirius had been a little harsh on the boy, who was clearly not cut out for not fitting in.

Suddenly, he caught himself. _Who cares?_ he thought, and headed down the stairs after the other two, casting a glance behind at the other marauder, who grinned at him, conspiracy bubbling in his eyes.

---

Two slices of toast and three bites into James' supper, Sirius still hadn't graced the Great Hall with his presence, and 'Rapunzel' had turned an intriguingly unattractive shade of red. "Do you think he'll come down? He might have just made me do it to embarrass me."

"Hm," replied the head boy, unwilling to comment lest it be used against him or anyone else later on. "Maybe."

He turned to Remus and flashed him a look – _do you think he really isn't going to turn up?_ – when all of a sudden the werewolf's eyes flicked away from concentrating on James and widened as both doors to the Great Hall were pushed open in unison to reveal Sirius Black in a massive red sombrero and a large fake moustache. "Hola!" he yelled, and nobody was surprised to hear a loud 'Hola!' in reply which came from a collective voice that sounded suspiciously female. Strutting over to the table in an even more exaggerated way than he usually did, he cried, "Amigos!" and flung his arms open. "Well, what do you think?"

"I think you're insane, personally," said Lily, and passed him a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Gracias," he replied, lifting the glass to her, and drank it down in one swallow. "How're you finding your hat, little Pete?"

"Um, great! Ha ha."

Predictably, nobody was convinced. Sirius, however, was in a good mood from all the attention he was receiving, and allowed it to slide. This seemed to be an end to the tension, at least outwardly, and everyone began talking freely again save for when conversation was interrupted to allow someone to compliment Sirius' hat.

Lily didn't join in with the conversation. She was thinking about how very different Peter and Sirius were as people. It seemed that what the brunette wanted most of all was to fit in with everyone else and be accepted by his friends, but couldn't go about it that well – mainly because fitting in with Peter's friends often tended to mean standing out from the crowd to get attention and make jokes, and that was exactly what he didn't want to do. It was like a vicious cycle. He seemed to get by on agreeing with everything James and Sirius – and even Remus, to an extent – said, which made him more like a groupie than a friend, in her opinion. Only Sirius seemed to notice this, however; the others just treated him more or less as they did each other.

Sirius, on the other hand, strove to stand out and be different. Ironically, this was something _he_ found difficult, and this was down to the fact that he was a naturally showy, funny and confident person. She wondered if he manufactured his liking for punk music and the whole idea of anarchy in order to be different; well, whether he had or he hadn't, he'd made it all 'cool' anyway.

It was odd, she considered, how Peter's hat was funnier, but it was Sirius that stole the limelight with his attitude and demeanour. Glancing at Peter in pity, she noticed a look in his eyes that seemed to suggest that the way he felt about Sirius went far beyond the usual levels of jealousy, yet still he wore his ridiculous hat in the hope that he might receive the other boy's approval.

"Lily? You're in a world of your own, there." James brought her back down to earth with a friendly smile and induced her into the conversation. All thoughts of comparing Black and Pettigrew were lost to her as everyone discussed Lily's looming forfeit, and she relaxed into the marauders' company.


	9. Can You Last Five Minutes?

Seeing as 'yesterday' evening was cut short – and I know you're all waiting for the conclusion to the big 'Who Will Remus Kiss?!?!?!?' question (um… sort of) – the beginning of this chapter will be to do with the rest of Tuesday, and then I'll move on to Wednesday.

**More apologies this chapter - when Remus thinks figures, he doesn't think of the actual numbers, he thinks full words, so the bit where he's doing his maths reads very numerically. It's all just how he maps out as a character in my head! He loves books too much to think '5' instead of 'five'. I'm sorry if it looks ugly and things, though it might explain it a little more if I tell you that this is how I think, too.**

**If you look hard enough, you can see a lot of my characters in me.**

**Beeeeeeg thank-yous to all my readers and reviewers! This is the most alerted and favourited story I've ever written! You don't know how much that means to me; I do quite love this one. So thank-you, thank-you, thank-you to everybody!!! Not that I'm expecting anyone to read this blather… oh well. Let the record show that I expressed my gratitude right here!**

Chapter Nine 

Lily met a Ravenclaw friend after supper that evening and so didn't get back to the common room until ten minutes after everybody else. When she arrived, she noticed that once again, poor Remus was the centre of attention, and it seemed that he was being grilled about who he had been thinking of when he asked if he was allowed to kiss the same person twice.

"Come _on_, Remus. We won't laugh." It seemed that Peter had gotten his confidence back, but Sirius looked all set to kill.

"If he doesn't want to say, just leave him alone, alright?"

The sandy-haired boy threw him a grateful look, but James shook his head. "It's for his own good."

"No, it isn't, if he's going to die of embarrassment."

"He needs to learn to just come out with it!" someone said. It was lucky for them that they were anonymous in the crowd; Sirius' eyes narrowed in a way that made it very clear what he would like to do to the person who had spoken.

"I have an idea." Lily interjected, and made everyone look up.

James looked surprised. "Didn't realise you'd come in, Lily."

She smiled. "I think you were all a bit preoccupied with making Remus' life a misery."

"Actually, '_all_' is a bit too general." Sirius commented, flourishing his hand in a display of his manner of eccentric flamboyance, and sat up slightly. "Anyway, whatever. Care to embellish our discussion with this idea of yours?"

"Maybe Remus can tell one of us and then that one person can judge it by themselves, rather than everyone hearing and deciding together."

Charlie shook her head, a softener to the low rumble of disagreement that had rippled amongst the crowd way before the redhead has finished speaking. "That wasn't the agreement."

"Guess not, but it seems a bit unfair to me, all of you against him. Oh, alright, _most_ of you, Sirius." She looked over at the small boy in question, who was sitting isolated on a chair more or less in the physical centre of the group. He had crossed his arms in a protective gesture, and looked understandably uncomfortable that everyone was discussing who he wanted to kiss right in front of him. "Actually, Remus, I was thinking of suggesting James."

There were a few protests from the crowd which seemed to sing to the tune of, 'But that's his best friend!'. She ignored them, however, and looked at the boy, waiting for his reaction.

"Well, yes, I suppose that wouldn't be too bad."

"Sounds fine to me." James affirmed, nodding at his friend to indicate that he come over.

"And me," agreed Sirius, unable to neither process nor entertain the idea that his opinion on the matter would have no sway whatsoever.

Well aware that the dark-haired boy was sitting quite close to where James was, Remus swapped to the side of him that was furthest away from the dog animagus before he settled down. "Well?"

"Um… do you promise not to laugh, or something? And you will tell me if you think I have no chance?"

James had never heard Remus speak less articulately. He could hardly believe that his friend, usually so verbally composed, was struggling to put across his meaning. "'Course I do, and 'course I will."

"Well, alright." The werewolf shuffled a little bit closer to his friend, the rest of the room in dead silence – an affliction that Lily cured it of by flicking a radio on with her wand. His mouth quivered open, and before he could stop himself, the name he'd been thinking of tumbled out of his mouth. "Sirius. It's…"

He couldn't bear to say it again, so James ignored the fact that his friend's sentence had been out of chronological order and nodded, attempting to subtly assure him that it was alright; he'd heard and understood. "I thought it might have been. I think that'd be fine. I mean, after all…" his lip twitched into a smile. "It _is_ his game."

Remus nodded, willing himself to smile but finding that he didn't have the energy or the nerve. "Alright. Thank you." He stood up and headed for the dormitory to pluck up his courage.

The head boy grinned and leaned back in his chair with his hands interlinked and cradling his neck, and his right foot resting crossed against his knee. "That's my side all done and dusted, actually, Padders."

"Who'd he say?" Sirius' pose was far less relaxed and confident than his friend's. He was leaning forward, anticipating the other boy's response. James liked having this kind of power over the chaser; it was something he rarely experienced.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough, right? Patience, Mr. Black."

"I'll give you bloody patience," he muttered, but sank back into his chair and pouted with crossed arms, giving James something that didn't so much resemble patience as it did a sulk.

---

Upstairs, Remus wondered how bad it would be to just skip a day. If this dare worked out at seven hundred and fifty points per kiss – which it did – and he didn't kiss anybody today, he'd still have a total of… what was it? Seven thousand, three hundred and seventy points. That'd place him… well, just behind Delia, actually, in fourth place.

Not bad for a bookworm, he thought.

That said, if he was correct (and he usually was), Delia Dawson was currently on seven thousand and nine hundred points. If he lost out on one day, by the end of it all he would be just five hundred and thirty points behind her. Usually, he wasn't a very competitive person; he preferred to enjoy doing the things that he did regardless of how good everyone else was at them. However, he couldn't help but think about how _brilliant_ it would be if he managed to take third, just behind Sirius and James. He'd feel far more marauder-ish then, and worthy of their company at long last.

It wasn't that they made him feel unwelcome – quite the opposite. It was just that he had never really understood why two boys such as Sirius and James had ever wanted to be friends with the small, mouse-like, mysterious and scarred youth they had met on the train, his nose buried in a muggle fiction novel. Perhaps he'd feel better about himself if he knew that he had earned his place beside them in a dare game.

The prospect was too attractive to miss. He had just been about to leave to go and march up to Sirius and kiss him when he realised that it was indeed _Sirius_ that he would be locking lips with.

He sat down on his bed again, defeated.

Sirius was not easy to approach, especially about something like this. Even before, when Remus had been getting teased about the thin jagged scars that had appeared above and below his left eye in a painful line of fire and made his eye puff up and weep slightly, continuously, he had found it very hard to speak to his friend about it.

"Moony!" he had grinned, attracting far more attention to their conversation than Remus would have liked. "What's up?"

It had taken a lot of bottle for him to look up from the floor and say that he didn't mean to be any trouble, and wouldn't normally have said anything, but there were a couple of Slytherins who had been giving him a bit of bother about what he'd done to his eye at the full moon, and if it didn't seem too much of a silly idea would Sirius mind walking him to the library so that he didn't have to pass them on his own?

Admittedly, the dark-haired boy had been outraged that someone had been picking on his best friend, and not only had he walked with him to the library, he had hexed the ringleader of the 'little bastards' into next week with the promise that more would follow if any of them so much as _glanced_ at Remus in a way that even _suggested_ any form of unpleasant thoughts.

Still, Remus thought. That didn't make him any less intimidating, specifically when what he was going to have to do was walk straight up to him and ask for a kiss – or even more horrifically, just take one.

Given the choice, he'd far rather face his Troublemakers with scars from head to toe – that, however, would bear no effect on his points, and anyway, he'd have to actually create the scars first. The only thing for it, he supposed, would be to take a deep breath, go downstairs and just dive in.

Dive into the question, of course - not a _kiss_. He'd die of embarrassment! He was dying now; his face was going redder by the second. In fact, any of his friends that walked in right now would probably think that he was-

"Thinking dirty thoughts, Moony?"

"Ah! No, no, of course not."

He had to admit that even he didn't think he sounded very convincing, even if he _was_ speaking the truth. Having a clear view of Sirius Black slinging himself around the doorframe wasn't exactly a great motivator for him to sound at all legible. The boy grinned. "Of course not. Clean as a sheet, you."

"Yes, I suppose so."

There was a short pause in which Sirius gathered his dignity and readied himself to throw it all away. "So, you know about this person you wanted to kiss twice?"

Remus spoke so quietly he could hardly hear it himself. "Yes?"

Adjusting his voice to suit the question, Sirius continued. "Who did you mean?" He wandered a little into the room and tentatively took a seat next to his friend on the bed. It sunk slightly, and the smaller boy shifted his feet, embarrassed. "It's OK, you can tell me."

"Well… I, er… I would, only…" he gave up. "I would, only it's… it's sort of, ah, you."

There was a short pause. Sirius blinked, and managed to reply, "And what did James have to say about that?"

"He said that he thought it would be agreeable."

"Did he really?"

"Well, not exactly. He said that he'd sort of guessed, and that he thought it would be OK seeing as it's your game and such." After Sirius didn't reply, Remus hurried on. "I mean, not that that would mean that you'd want to kiss me again or anything, but I think what he meant was that seeing as you hadn't raised any objections to the concept then you wouldn't mind and I presume he'd talked to you about it…"

"Remus?"

Even tenser now, the sandy-haired boy stopped his rambling and turned, eyes wide, to face his friend. "Yes?"

"Shh."

Sensing that this was possibly a prelude to a kiss, Remus' nerves shot through the roof. "Ah, alright. I'm so-"

Lips met lips in a silencing, light kiss that gradually became far deeper. A gentle yet possessive hand belonging to Sirius rested softly against the side of Remus' neck. The message was clear; _you're mine_.

---

Lily woke up nervous the following morning with the foreboding feeling that her forfeit would be perhaps one of her worst house-game experiences ever. It was just one of those days that made her want to pull the covers over her head and go back to sleep; much like the exam weeks.

That said, she didn't want James to think she was frightened, and he was quite perceptive, so she got straight up, showered and dressed as she usually did, with thoughts of dark broom closets packed with spiders crawling through her mind.

All day, she found it impossible to concentrate, even in fourth lesson, which was one of her favourites, Defence of the Dark Arts. Glancing over at her, the werewolf found himself snapped out of his Sirius-related daze and brought back down to earth. She seemed to be totally elsewhere, and an educated guess told him that that her 'elsewhere' was likely to be a broom closet somewhere. As soon as the Professor stopped speaking, he wandered over to talk to her, Sirius' eyes trailing his path.

"Lily, are you alright?"

"What? Oh, yes, sorry. I'm fine, thank you." He didn't seem very convinced, so she added, "Did you come all the way over here just to ask me that?"

"Yes." He replied, but wasn't swayed. "Look, if you're worrying about the forfeit, then we can get you out of it easily. We have Sirius wrapped around our little fingers." Unable to contain himself, he looked over at Sirius, who winked, and was grinning. "No, really. Are you sure it's OK?"

"I'll be fine. It's just a broom closet, right?"

"Wrong," called Sirius, clearly vying for Remus' attention. "It's a psychological death trap!"

"Oh, go and stroke his ego, won't you?" she said, smiling, and waved him off to go and sit back down next to Sirius, who offered a smile of his own. She didn't know for sure, but from the way they were acting around each other and the satisfied smile on James' face, she could hazard a guess that Remus had gotten his kiss last night.

Last lesson, Potions, was a whirl of laughter and of James and Sirius' antics, so she didn't have a great deal of time to consider that in less than an hour, she'd be spending more time than she'd like inside an enclosed space without any source of light. Only when she'd left the classroom and was on her way back to the common room with Remus, James, Sirius and Peter did it all dawn on her.

"Oh," was all she said, but they understood, and with silencing looks from James, they refrained from comment until everyone was settled in their favourite chairs in Gryffindor Tower.

"So," said Sirius, finally, speaking into the silence. "Who were you thinking of taking into this cupboard of yours, then?"

"I'm not really sure."

"I think Prongs would be a willing volunteer," he announced.

"Hey!"

"Yes, I know he would, but actually… well." She brushed her hair out of her face. "I was thinking of asking Remus."

This was generally quite unexpected, and Sirius looked quite displeased that not only had his idea been shunned, but it had also been shunned in favour of the boy he had been looking forward to toying with for the duration of the forfeit. However, by the rules he himself had set out, he couldn't do anything about it. Making himself rather obvious, he decided to try and persuade her otherwise. "Wouldn't you rather have Charlie or Delia?"

"They've previously informed me that they'd delight in pretending that their hands were spiders in order to frighten me; so no, I don't think so."

"Oh. Well, alright then, if he, er, wants to. Or rather, doesn't mind."

Catching on to Sirius' discontentment with the issue, Remus decided to speak with a tone that suggested that he'd far rather sit and stare longingly at Sirius. "No, I don't mind."

"That's settled, then." James concluded, sensing that Sirius would probably be incapable of doing so without making a spectacle of himself. "Where's the closet we're going to use?"

Ten minutes later, a small crowd was gathered around the cleaning cupboard located at the very back of the Gryffindor Common room. "All set?" asked Sirius, who had composed himself again.

"Yes, I think so." Remus answered. Lily had gone slightly pale. "Ready, Lily?"

"Yes," she said, humiliated by the irrationality of her fear. She hoped that nobody was thinking how ridiculous it was to be frightened of the dark. She knew that it was silly, and that there was nothing _there_, but supposed it was really more of a fear of the unknown than anything else. "Let's get it over with."

"Right. I'll time," said James, shaking a small enchanted hourglass at her. "Whenever you like."

She nodded, and opened the door of the closet. It looked smaller than she had expected, which, she decided, might actually help. The less space there was for things she didn't like to be, the less likely they were to be there. She glanced at Remus, who smiled at her reassuringly, and stepped inside. He followed, and closed the door behind them gently so that Peter wouldn't slam it.

Remus guessed that about ten seconds had passed before Lily announced quietly, "I don't like it in here much."

"I didn't think you would. I don't think Sirius thought you would, either, if I'm being honest."

"Sorry for choosing you. You could have said no if you'd wanted, you know."

"No, it's alright." There was a long pause. "Ah, why did you choose me, anyway?"

There was another pause while Lily contemplated her answer. "I think it's just because you've always been quite nice to me. I meant what I said about Charlie and Delia!"

"Oh, alright."

"Why?"

"I just wondered, really."

"Oh."

A silence of perhaps thirty seconds or more followed before James called in, "Two minutes gone!" and made Lily jump, knocking over a cleaning broom which hit Remus quite sharply on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't expecting that."

"Ah, no, neither was I." She could hear from his voice that he was smiling, even if she couldn't see it.

She hadn't liked the silence; it had unnerved her. In order to attempt to feel a little better, she decided to fill it all up with conversation. "Last day of your Can You today, isn't it?"

"That's right."

"Have you kissed anybody yet?"

"No, I haven't, actually. I'm sure the others will arrange something if I don't manage it on my own, though."

"Probably. They seem to care about you a lot." She smiled faintly. "Sirius and James pretend to be so masculine, but they're quite soft, really, aren't they?"

He laughed. "Yes, they are – but in a very male sort of way, I suppose. That's what they'd like me to say."

"Yes."

"I think it might have been Sirius who sent me it, actually. Peter doesn't have the imagination, as cruel as that may sound. James promised that he didn't, and I believe him."

She shook her head, not that he could tell. "Sirius didn't send you that challenge, Remus. I did."

He stumbled backwards slightly, thrown off-balance. "_You_ did?" All of a sudden, he saw her in his mind. _You don't have to… _she had said. Everything made sense. "You _did_." She didn't speak. He couldn't comprehend it. "Why?"

"I told you. You're always really nice to me, Remus, and it was about time I did something nice for you in return - a favour. You seemed so _lonely_, and I knew you wouldn't ever do anything of your own accord, so I decided to intervene."

Remus didn't answer for a while, still a little surprised. "Well, I'm grateful, but I'm also rather taken aback."

"I guessed you would be." Shyly, she continued on. "Do you think that seeing as I started all this off, I should end it, too?"

"But James-"

"-wouldn't mind a kiss between friends."

Remus laughed nervously. "I don't think you know James all that well."

"Perhaps not," she said, and kissed him.

---

Outside of the closet, Sirius sat bored, examining the hourglasses of points. Five minutes was _ridiculous_ of him. If she could manage two in there, then she could manage five easily, so why hadn't he just left it at that? She'd had more than her fair share of him, now.

No, no; she'd had more than her fair share of attention. That's what he'd meant.

Now his thoughts were slightly central of Remus, however, and he glanced at the werewolf's hourglass, filled with grey sand. He looked at the total at the bottom – 7370 – and smiled. Not bad for a bookworm.

_Hang on._ The numbers were moving; the seven had flicked up to an eight. He blinked, and the numbers stopped flicking, having stopped at 8120.

He could think of only one reason why they had gone up all of a sudden. Looking at the door of the cupboard with eyes he hoped didn't betray his feelings to everyone too badly, his only thought was that _that_ was why she'd asked for Remus. It was all Sirius' fault.

Pushing the chair away from the table with his hands, he stood up and left the common room without comment, allowing himself to be far more hurt than he usually would. He didn't even turn around to offer James any sort of non-verbal explanation. However, his friend was, as Lily had noticed, quite perceptive, and noticed the set of hourglasses out on the table.

Remus' had been pulled forward slightly so that Sirius could read the score. He pushed his glasses further up his nose, and looked at the scorekeeper, wondering what about it had made Sirius leave. It was then that he noticed that Remus had the amount of points they had worked out would be his score after he'd gotten all seven kisses.

To his knowledge, the werewolf hadn't been out of his sight all day, so there could be only one explanation.

So that was what had upset Sirius.

He glared at the timer as if this was all its fault. "Ten seconds," he said, and then repeated himself so that the two inside the closet could hear. Exactly that later, the door opened and Lily stepped out. She wasn't pale like she had been when she'd entered.

Well, he thought. That was easily accounted for.

He could hear Charlie and Delia congratulating Lily, who was telling them stories about her imagining huge spiders landing on her head, or something. He couldn't hear; and for once, he didn't want to. The subject of How I Kissed Remus was bound to come up soon, and he didn't think he'd be able to stand that.

The boy in question walked over to him, hair flopping over his eyes in a way that no longer seemed to suggest innocence, loyalty and a considerate nature. "It's definitely dark in there, I can tell you. Uh, where's Sirius?"

James had wanted to bring himself to say something that would hurt him badly, but couldn't. He just shook his head and slid Remus' hourglass across the table. "Congratulations. You're third."

Being quick-witted as he was, Remus understood straight away. "James, listen, it was completely platonic. She only did it because it was her that sent me the Can You, and I needed the last kiss…" he trailed off as he realised that his friend was only half-listening, his eyes set intently on the Gryffindor crest fixed above the fireplace. "Please don't ignore me. I'm telling the truth."

"Yeah, maybe."

"There's no maybe about it, I promise! It was platonic, I swear…"

James frowned and mimicked the other boy. "_I didn't do anything, it was for the dare, it was platonic!_"

"Exactly!" Remus replied desperately. "I knew you were going to take this badly."

"Then why did you do it?" he asked, then shook his head, eyes closed. "Actually, don't answer that. Just… go away, alright? Go and look for Sirius, if you want; and no, I don't have a fucking clue where he is."

Head bowed, Remus left James to his devices without saying anything. He'd try the dormitory first.

_It's ridiculous to cry. It's ridiculous to cry._

--- 

An hour or so later – who could possibly measure? – James pushed open the door of the Room of Requirement. "He's been looking for you everywhere, you know."

A low, suspiciously husky, "Oh," was all the reply Sirius offered, clearly reluctant to give his friend enough evidence to suggest that he'd been crying – Merlin forbid. He was facing away from James and looking through a large window at a lake that the head boy couldn't put a name to.

"Yes."

The other boy cleared his throat, abandoning the pretence of masculine speech. His voice was still gruff, however. "Thank you for not telling him."

"That's alright." He gave Sirius a little space in case he'd wanted to say anything, but he clearly didn't, so James continued talking. "You know, as much as I wouldn't tell him this, I do think it was just a… a friendly thing, you know."

"Oh, yes?" he turned round. "And what makes you think that?"

"Well, er, Lily sort of saw me and him talking and came over to clear things up once he'd gone."

"You'll take her word? How d'you know she's not just covering for him?"

James didn't really know. "Could just tell, I guess."

"Hm." Unexpectedly, he continued speaking. "Do you think I'm being a bit of a dick about it?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On whether or not you're willing to admit that you kissed him yesterday."

Sirius turned around. "How did you know?"

The seeker decided not to tell his friend that it was one of the most obvious things that had ever happened. "Maybe I just know you both too well."

"Maybe." Shaking his head to flick his hair out of his eyes, he took a deep breath. "I think I'm going to go and apologise for just running off, 'specially since he wanted to say something to me."

"Lovesick idiot."

"Lily-flower arse-licker."

With these fond parting messages, Sirius set off to the common room, where he knew Remus would be pretending to read.

---

There was a certain corner of the common room that Remus preferred to any other place in Hogwarts – including the library and his bed. It was positioned in the small place that, vertically, accommodated the stairs, and as there was a corner wall in front of the seat, it more or less barred the area from the view of the general common room. This was why he liked it; nobody could say he wasn't being sociable and sitting with his housemates.

One disadvantage of this place was that he, in turn, had a restricted view of the common room, and so didn't know that Sirius was coming to see him until he actually sat down in the 'full common-room visibility' chair opposite Remus'. "Er, hello."

"Hi," replied the werewolf, feeling more than a little guilty, however friendly the kiss with Lily had been. He closed his book and placed it on the table. "I'm really sorry."

"Doesn't matter. Listen, I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have gone off without getting an explanation, however – ah – bad it might have looked. I wasn't angry, really; I was kind of, er, hurt." The sandy-haired boy's face crumpled, so he held up a hand. "No, no, I'm OK now. I know it wasn't, like, a _romantic _kiss or anything, because… ah…"

"Because James told you."

"Yeah, he did."

"I knew he'd know where you'd gone."

"Ah, don't be angry at him. He just knew I would want to… collect my thoughts, so to speak."

"I'm not angry. I would have liked to explain things to you earlier, though."

Sirius smiled, and was about to reply when he heard his name shouted across the common room. He turned to see who was speaking to him, and noticed Delia making her way over to see him. "Hi, Delia. What's up?"

"When's this date with Charlie going to happen? I thought you kept your promises, Sirius Black!" She grinned at him, and then noticed that his facial expression had fallen into the _impending catastrophe_ band. She stepped a bit closer and realised that sitting directly opposite him was Remus "Oh. Sorry. I'll, er… just, sorry. Never mind."

As she spun on her heel, she bit her lip, feeling awful. What if she'd just spoiled everything?

Remus' eyes rested on his companion with a tired look. "A date with Charlie?"

Prompted and devastated by the upset that had settled on the other boy's face, he rushed to speak. "It's not how it sounds!"

"Then how _is_ it? On the straight and narrow for once, please."

"Ah… are you sure?" He didn't get a reply beyond a reproachful look. "Oh, alright. I – er – kind of didn't like it when you had to kiss those girls 'cos it sort of made me feel a bit jealous. Sort of." He looked down, missing the little fond smile that had appeared on Remus' face. "So I asked Delia if she'd kiss you the other day, because maybe if it doesn't happen on it's own it has less chance of turning into something that might replace – well, me." He cleared his throat. "Well, she was a bit against the idea 'cos she said that it wasn't right, you being her friend and all, so I said that I'd go out with Charlie if she did. So she said she would, and you already know the rest."

He looked up, anxious and tentative, and was relatively shocked when Remus burst into peals of amused laughter, which steadily wore down and were replaced with speech. "Merlin. If I ever meet anyone with ideas as wildly insane as yours, I'll let you know."

The animagus perked up. "Not angry, then?"

"No, Sirius. I'm not angry."

"Not even though Delia had to be bribed to kiss you?" he grinned, teasing.

In a rare moment of courage, Remus smiled back. "Well, I had to be bribed with points to kiss you, so… all's fair, really."

Sirius gave an expression of mock pain. "That's just not fair. That's not fair at all."

"No, it isn't. It's not true, either."

"Good," confirmed Sirius, and took the opportunity to slide in next to Remus on the sofa. Hoping that his friend wouldn't mind a public display of affection, he slung his arm round his shoulder and kissed the top of his head. "Mine."

Unwilling to argue, Remus smiled. "Yours."

**Beasty chapter! Beasty, beasty chapter! Christmas special next, woo!**


	10. Can You Spare A Moment?

This is going to be the shortest chapter of 'Can You, Can't You?' I will ever write. That's because it's a filler to go between chapter nine and the Christmas special! It would just be silly to jump right ahead without an explanation of how Lily and James took the whole business…

Apologies to Neil Cicierega; firstly because I've probably misspelled your name, and secondly because I've borrowed your words. Sorry!

This 'filler' also includes various Charlie-and-Deliaisms as characterised by the 'general babes' they are dedicated to, taken from perhaps the best dictionary ever to be found. Thank you for these!

**Chapter Ten**

Lily craned her neck to look around the corner. She wouldn't usually invade what she knew was likely to be a private moment, but Delia had rushed over to the area where she had been sitting with her sister and Lily, babbling that she had probably messed up Sirius and Remus' lives forever, and she just had to know what her friend meant.

She was surprised at what she saw. Rather than wearing the sad, empty expressions of people who had just had their entire existences wrecked, they both appeared to be more or less in total bliss – and what's more, they were cuddling. "They look fine to me," she reported.

Delia didn't look like she believed her friend much. "Don't try to make me feel better. They're dieing inside."

"I doubt it. Look."

All at once, Charlie, Delia and Lily leaned to their right to glance at the two boys, who hadn't noticed the small amount of attention they were attracting. "Oh, I see. Well, whatever floats their boats, I suppose."

"Yes." Lily said, but she was paying more attention to Charlie, who hadn't said a word, and was staring at the wall with Sirius behind it. Moments later, something else caught her attention; but yet again, it wasn't poor Delia, who was talking to her.

"Lily."

It had been said that Sirius had the most heartbreaking puppy-dog eyes it was possible to own, but the pair James was wearing were enough to take you past melting point. Lily could never understand why people fell for Sirius' cold grey eyes when right beside him were James' warm chocolate ones. "Hello, James."

"Can I… er… have a quick word?"

"Of course. Just give me two minutes, OK?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine. I'll see you in our dorm."

With undivided attention, she watched him turn around and leave the common room. She couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong with him; not least because he hadn't looked back at her once.

After being ignored for thirty seconds, Delia smiled at her sister. "Do you know, Charlie? I think we were right all along."

"Of course we were. It's very clear."

"We've always said that Lily has far more of a thing for James than she thinks she does."

"I do not have a… a _thing_ for James!"

"Unicorn turd," declared Charlie matter-of-factly, and then smiled. "Come on, it doesn't matter. He likes you anyway."

"He _did_," she corrected, believing herself to be speaking the truth. "He clearly doesn't anymore, and that's a good thing." She smiled in an attempt to be remotely believable.

"Don't kid yourself," Delia commented wryly. "Now go and talk to him before you both spontaneously combust. It's probably about the Christmas ball, anyway." She locked eyes with Charlie, and they both smiled excitedly, shaking their hands about, and squealed, "Christmas ball!"

Lily smiled. "I'll go, then, and leave you two to fling your elbows around at each other."

She left the common room to an orchestra of kissing noises, which she silenced with an embarrassed look.

---

As soon as he heard the portrait creak, James stood up from the sofa he had been reclining on. "Hi."

"Hello." She offered him a smile, as he appeared to be uncharacteristically uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry for dragging you away from your conversation. I realise you probably don't want to be bothered when you're talking to your friends, especially by me."

"No, it's fine. You don't have to apologise." She blinked, openly concerned. "What's up?"

He waited a while before he spoke, attempting to force away the blush that had patterned his cheeks. "You and Remus… listen, I understand that it's none of my business, but he's my best friend, and you… well, you know how I feel about you."

Unable to comprehend why she was so crestfallen, Lily spoke. "I've told you, he just did it for the dare. Honestly, James, he'd never betray you."

The seeker scratched behind his ear. He knew that what he was about to say had the potential to make things incredibly awkward. "I know that."

She paused. "I don't understand what it is that's troubling you, then."

"I just wanted – well, I just wondered if that feeling was reciprocated. That is, I mean to say… do you, er, fancy Remus?"

Her instincts told her to say, 'I don't see how it's anything to do with you, Potter,' but she knew she couldn't possibly do what her head wanted her to. "No," she replied, as gently as she dared. "I don't."

Instantly, he appeared to lighten up. The spark in his eyes was back, and as much as she had thought the puppy-dog eyes were very sweet, she didn't miss them seeing as they had been replaced with a set so energetic and _alive_. "OK." He replied, as nonchalantly as he could. "Alright, the next item on the agenda – the Christmas ball."

"Well," she began, smiling at this version of James which she so much preferred. "I have a few ideas."

**Christmas special coming up! I'm sorry this was so short.**


	11. Can You Dance Solo?

getsTo all my lovely readers, reviewers and owners of death-lists which I appear on – have a fantastic Christmas, and a brilliant new year! I hope you have a great time, and I also hope this excuse for a special doesn't put you off this story for life. Enjoy!

Another special thanks to 'Charlie and Delia' for the dictionary, which has once again been taken from my bookshelf for this chapter.

I don't know on which day of the week Christmas fell in 1970, for which I apologise, but it doesn't matter anyway seeing as it's the holidays.

**Chapter Eleven**

In the week that passed before Christmas, it felt to Sirius like time had stilled. Lessons dragged like dead weights, especially now that Remus' desks always seemed so goddamn far away. It hadn't snowed yet, even though Professor Whitelake had predicted it would. This amused Remus and Lily, who had both made comments about the uselessness of Divination, but it had certainly put paid to Sirius and James' plans for a gigantic snowball fight.

"If Christmas doesn't bloody get a move on," he declared in Potions with two days to go, "then I will refuse to acknowledge it when it finally turns up."

"Of course you will," replied James absent-mindedly, arranging his gracklesnap leaves into the vague outline of a Christmas tree.

Despite it all, he wasn't the only one for whom the 'big day' seemed too far away. It was weeks ago that Charlie and Delia had both planned exactly what they – and poor Rachel, who slept in their dormitory – were going to wear both during the daytime and to the ball, and not that he was _reading_ it or anything, but Sirius happened to know that Remus had written that he was 'looking forward to getting some new books' a couple of times in his journal.

This Christmas was slightly different to the others they had shared, as usually, no more than two of them would be together on Christmas Day. This year, however, had uncovered a set of circumstances, which meant that only Peter and a couple of the Can You? players were going home for the holidays. To Sirius, of course, staying at the castle was nothing new – "And I don't see what all the fuss is about, honestly. 'S just the same castle as always."

As head boy and head girl, it was more or less tradition for Lily and James to stay at Hogwarts and help with the organisation aspects of the ball. James pretended that he didn't miss his family, and Lily pretended that she _did_ miss hers; a system which both found worked quite well as they decorated the tree in their shared common room. "This will be quite new for me," she explained, "as I've never spent a Christmas without my family before."

"Ah, don't worry about it. I've done it a couple of times, and you spend too much time opening presents, having snowball fights – though that might be out this year – and eating damn good food to miss home."

"I suppose you're right." Their eyes met as the last bauble was hung from the branches, and he passed the finishing touch - an enchanted golden star - to her as she found her balance on the stepladder and placed the years-old ornament right at the top of the tree.

---

Remus woke up bright and early on Christmas morning with a feeling of sickness that protested, 'It's too early! It's too early!' and the excited face of Sirius Black looming ahead of him as he perched on the werewolf's bed. "Sirius, what time is it?"

"Presents time!" asserted the boy, and removed his hands from Remus' shoulders. "Sorry for shaking you, but you wouldn't wake up."

Ah. So that was why he had surfaced at such an ungodly hour. "Perhaps it's presents time for you, but what does the sane person's clock say?"

"It says twelve."

"What?"

"And one, and two, and three, and four…"

Groggy with sleep, Remus prised the other boy's fingers from his alarm clock and wiped his eyes so that he could see what it said. "Sirius, it's twenty past four in the morning. Go back to sleep."

"What are you, my mother?"

"Does your mother often partake in incest?"

"I don't want to know. Why are you interested?" said Sirius, clearly repulsed, and missing the point. "Will you get up now?"

Remus looked over at James and Peters' empty beds, and wished that they were here to inject some form of sanity into the livelier of the boys' head. He might have whined, but this would only provoke more of this blasphemous morning invasiveness. "Where do you get your energy?"

The dark-haired boy waggled fingers. "Christmas spirit!"

Normally, he thought, he would have blamed Sirius' obsession on the boy's family, but of course this didn't work in Sirius' case. It got him thinking that perhaps this interest in a day in which everyone loved each other and families got together _did_ come from his family – or lack of it. Saddened by this thought that this may be what was fuelling his a-little-more-than-a-friend, he decided to appease him. "Alright, alright, you win. I'm going for a shower, and when I get back there'd better be a bottle of this Christmas Spirit stuff uncorked on my dressing table."

"It's not a drink…" a confused Sirius tried to explain, once more missing the point.

_You're more tired than you think you are_, Remus thought, and stepped into the bathroom.

---

Neither of the head students had been able to sleep, and so had stayed up all night. For the last hour or so, they had been giggling childishly at the jokes they'd found in the crackers James had smuggled from the kitchens early on Christmas Eve and occasionally 'Shh!'-ing each other when the laughter got loud enough for a passing Professor to hear.

"OK, OK, I love this one. Alright, Lily, what do you get when you cross a kangaroo with a sheep?"

"Oh, I know this!" she told him, straining to remember, and began to whisper her clues. "Kangaroo… sheep…" She gave up after a couple of seconds, having been worn down by the night. "I give in. Tell me."

Hardly containing his misplaced amusement, James hissed, "A woolly jumper!" and the two started off laughing again, however terrible the joke may have been.

"I think," Lily told him once they'd stopped again, "that I am hyper from the lack of sleep."

"It happens, it happens." James agreed, and passed her a glass of water, which she accepted gratefully. Thoughtfully, he waited until she had swallowed her mouthful before saying, "A woolly jumper, though."

She started giggling again, unsure why she was doing so, and picked up another cracker ready to pull. She couldn't help but feel like this was going to be a Christmas to remember.

---

"Oh, brilliant!" Sirius said, holding up the t-shirt he had been given by his favourite cousin, Andromeda. "Chaser of Balls, it says. Look!"

Remus looked. "I'm sure your parents will hate that."

"Exactly! Ah, I love double barrelled meanings, don't you?"

"More than life itself," the sandy-haired boy replied, smiling at the other boy's excitement. He looked about ten years old rifling through his pile of presents like this, and it was very endearing. He had almost finished unwrapping them all now, however, and only had the marauders' presents left to open.

"I'll go for James' first." He picked up the parcel and lifted it close to his face, examining it for clues of what might be inside. After about ten seconds or so of this, he shook the rectangular-shaped present and pulled a face. "Bloody hell. I think it's a _book_. Why'd he buy me a book? I don't read. I _hate_ reading."

Being the lover of literature that he was, Remus kept quiet as the paper was ripped from the gift. He expected James to have labelled his presents incorrectly, but as soon as he saw the title of the tome, he knew that James had given Sirius a book – indeed, a _book_ – wholly intentionally.

"101 Utterly Useless Spells! Hey, I eat my words; I think I'll quite like this." Abandoning his other presents for the moment, he flicked open the book at a random page and began to read it. Personally, Remus found this to be a sacrilege; how can you begin reading a book from the _middle_? In spite of this, his thoughts were interrupted by a hearty laugh. "Listen to this, listen to this. _Lightium Moosius_ – turns a lightbulb into a moose! To use, find any ordinary lightbulb, state the incantation and trace the shape of a moose with your wand. There's a diagram so you know what one looks like, too, see? I really want to try this. Remus, do you have a lightbulb?"

"Oh, yes, I often carry them around in castles which don't use electricity."

Sirius didn't miss the joke this time. "Oh, yeah. Erm… do you think they'll have any in the Muggle Studies resources?"

Knowing they probably did, the werewolf shook his head. "Yes, of course they do, but actually, they disappear overnight and only come back into being when it turns at least nine in the morning."

"Alright, alright, later, but be warned - I will have my moose!" With this dire warning, he picked up Peter's gift, and gave it the shake test. "It's another t-shirt. Definitely another t-shirt."

"Open it, then."

Ignoring his friend's morning mood – it was still only five o' clock – Sirius did, and with awe lifted a black shirt from the packaging.

"How lovely, a plain black tee."

"It's got Pink Floyd on!" Sirius turned the shirt around for Remus to look at, holding it up by the sleeves, and sure enough, Pink Floyd was printed on it in big bold letters. "Ah, that cheese-eating fiend. He's a tosser but I love him."

Such contradictory language confused Remus, and all of a sudden he felt like he desperately needed a cup of coffee. He summoned his flask of it from his trunk upstairs and caught it neatly with his hands. He heated it gently with his wand and took a drink, all the while watching Sirius sitting patiently, waiting to be invited to open his present from the werewolf, which had clearly been the largest of the lot.

"Go on, then. I won't make you wait." He smiled, a little more invigorated now, and hoped Sirius hadn't minded that he'd been grouchy.

Remus guessed that the other boy had already tried to guess what he'd been bought, because he didn't stop to examine this one. He simply ripped the paper off like it stayed there it was going to damage his present, and pulled a large vintage record player out from the carnage. "Christ, man, this must have cost you a fortune!"

"No, not really." Remus blushed. It had been second hand; he never had enough money for Christmas presents. This year he had found the old record player sitting broken in a pawnbroker's. None of the muggles had wanted to buy it; quite rightly, as it was broken. He had been able to fix it with magic, however, and so had wrapped it up for Sirius, along with-

"Never Mind the Bollocks!" Sirius held up the record, caressing it like a lover with his eyes. "I have wanted this ever since I was born."

"It wasn't made when you were born."

"No, no, Rem, you don't understand. It's fate! When I was a young boy I knew that I'd be an ambassador of punk – whatever _that_ was – and that I would worship Vicious and Rotten men in a band called the Sex Pistols – even though that first word is very _naughty_. It's destiny, Moony. It's karma."

Reluctant to point out that karma was something else entirely, Remus just smiled. "If you say so. I won't argue; I just hope you like it."

"Remmlekins," Sirius said, in a deadly serious tone, "I love it." Then, he brightened up. "I want to play it now!"

"You can't, everyone will still be in bed! Haven't you seen the ti-"

"Fuck sleep! ANARCHY!" cried Sirius, and set up the player with a few flicks of his wand. Seconds later, he had found 'God Save the Queen' and was allowing it to blast its way through all of the Gryffindor dormitories and a fair distance out into the corridor.

At six o' clock, Charlie, Delia and Rachel could wait no longer to go downstairs – and neither could they continue to ignore Sirius' loud assertions of anarchy. Less than ten minutes later, James and Lily arrived as well. By time all the presents under the Gryffindor tree had been unwrapped and admired, it had turned seven thirty, so everyone traipsed back to their dormitories to change in order to go down to the great hall for breakfast. It was with reluctance that Sirius quelled the sound of the Sex Pistols and charmed his new things to follow him up the stairs.

---

As there were a couple more people for Christmas dinner this year than there usually were, there were two tables instead of one when it was finally time to eat, and the Gryffindors – who there appeared to be most of – commandeered the table without any teachers, accommodating a couple of frightened looking first- and second- years along the way.

"Can't wait for this party of yours tonight, Prongs, I have to say."

"Neither can I. It's going to be brilliant. We've worked quite hard on it." He made a point of advertising to everybody else that he had Lily had, in fact, worked together, without actually correcting Sirius. "We've added an extra little something that I guarantee has never been done before."

"Tell me?" Sirius tried, but, as he had expected, he was refused.

"No, it's a secret. You'll definitely like it, though. You'll see it as a sort of tribute to yourself."

"I'm liking it more and more as time goes on."

It was then that dinner appeared, however, and so all conversation ended in order to accommodate food rather than sound in everybody's mouths. Interruptions came only very rarely, and usually followed the pattern of, "Please pass me the carrots," or similar. Once all the food was clear – which didn't take as long as it perhaps should have – the crackers appeared.

Having pulled his first red one with Remus and winning a large flamboyant hat embellished with a sunflower, Sirius lifted up the small scrap of paper that had fallen out of the end after the hat. "Hey, everyone, I've got a good one. What do you get when you cross a kangaroo and a sheep?"

"A woolly jumper!" said both James and Lily at once, and for no reason that anybody else could fathom, suddenly erupted into boundless laughter.

"It's not funny," Remus pointed out, perplexed, but neither of the head students heard.

---

The afternoon seemed to crawl for Lily. She'd been looking to this ball for weeks. It would be the first school event her and James had organised totally unsupervised, and as nervous as she was, she had a feeling that everything was going to run nice and smoothly. The set of students that had stayed for Christmas were pleasant and non-malicious, and so she could see no reason for any of them to cause any trouble.

She didn't usually like to put too much thought into the things she wore, as she knew she could never compare to Charlie and Delia, but today she had no choice with all the spare time she had on her hands. After she had helped James decide that perhaps the red dress robes weren't the best idea, she knew it was her turn to make her choice. She chose three dresses that could potentially be worn for the ball and carried them into her bathroom, which, thankfully, had a full-length mirror.

After what felt like hours, she had finally decided on the midnight blue strapless gown that her aunt had bought for her, and returned to the shared common room where James was waiting with one leg up on the sofa. She held the dress up for him to see, and he nodded with an eyebrow raised. "Very nice… though I'd like to see it on."

"You will, tonight."

"What if it looks dreadful?" he asked in mock concern.

"Oh, James, everything looks dreadful, I'm certain of that. This is the _least_ dreadful of the three." She smiled at him, and turned to carry the dress back into the dormitory.

As she placed the hanger of the dress over the top of the doorframe so that the bottom wouldn't trail on the floor, she could have sworn she heard her companion mutter, "Dreadful, my arse." A smile worked its way onto her lips, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out how it had gotten there.

---

At seven o' clock sharp, Lily and James entered the ball together as was tradition, her arm resting gently on top of his. Despite covering a fair amount of her body, the tight fit of her dress caught many of the boys' eyes as she swept into the hall, sultry red hair drifting in light curls beyond her shoulders. Charlie had insisted on wrapping her hair in magical curlers, and Lily hadn't liked the idea at first, but had had to admit that it looked quite nice after it was finished.

She wasn't the only one to think so. Taller than her by at least five inches, James looked down at her with fondness. He wanted to tell her how _wonderful_ she looked, but knew it would probably irritate her if he did so, and refrained from complimenting her. Instead, he commented on how the hall had shaped up. "Looks good, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it's fantastic. It's really amazing."

As soon as the ceremonial aspects of the ball had been fulfilled, Sirius made a beeline for his friend. "Alright, then, what's with all this disgraceful music?"

James only smiled. "It won't all be the same. Go and have a dance to pass the time until a song you actually like comes one."

"_You_ want _me_ to dance to the Jackson 5?" the dog animagus asked blandly, and received only a nod.

"There's nothing wrong with a bit of cheese, Peter might say."

"I beg to differ. Come on, Jamie, get 'em to put the Sex Pistols on!"

McGonagall threw them a filthy look at the word 'sex', so James shook his head. "Can't. I'd have thought you'd enjoy the fact that they're a bit too anarchic for a Hogwarts party, Pad."

"I suppose so."

"I can do you The Who?"

Sirius grinned, and patted his friend on the back. "That's my man," he said, and strutted his way across the empty dancefloor to where Remus was sitting without any shame.

"Sometimes," Lily sighed, "I wonder whether his ego is too much for even him."

"Ah, he's alright. He just likes the attention. Doesn't get it anywhere else, does he?"

"No, I assume not, with the way he's acting now." She spoke with no malice, however, and James smiled. He liked it that he, his friends and Lily were finally getting on. Glancing at her hair again, he suddenly remembered something.

"Hang on, I forgot! Um…" he looked around the hall for a more secluded spot. "Come over here for a second. I want to give you something."

She followed him into the corner, a blush creeping up onto her cheeks. "Is this a Christmas present?"

"Well, yeah, kind of." He hoped she wasn't annoyed by his forwardness.

"I feel terribly guilty. I'm very sorry; I haven't bought you anything, you know."

"I know. I knew you wouldn't. I just thought of you when I saw them." He smiled; she was blushing even more now, and it was very cute to see her being so open about her emotions in front of him. He pulled a small square package from the back pocket of his dress robes and handed it over to her. She looked at it for a few seconds, embarrassed. "Ah, go on, open it."

She smiled at him, abashed, and gently pulled off the paper to reveal a small red box. Upon lifting the lid, she found a pair of simple yet beautiful emerald green stud earrings. Their eyes met, flashing with thanks – hers as she was grateful, and his as he was glad to see that she obviously liked the gift. "Oh, James, they're lovely." One by one, she took her old, plain gold plated earrings out and replaced them with the new ones, which sparkled wonderfully in the light of the ball and almost exactly matched the colour of her eyes. She tucked her hair behind her ears so they were on show. "I feel even worse now."

"Don't worry about it. They look great; that's a good enough return for me."

"Don't be silly!" she exclaimed and looked up at the ceiling so that he wouldn't see her squirm under his flattery. Suddenly, she knew exactly how to reward him, and turned her eyes back down. "Actually, there is something I can give you in return."

"I've already said you don't have to. Honestly, it's fine." In the hope that he would take the hint, she directed her eyes up towards the mistletoe that was hanging above them, and as she had wanted, his eyes followed. "Er, alright. I understand."

She leaned towards him, close enough so that she could properly smell the new expensive aftershave he'd received from his parents, and, redirecting at the last second, pressed her lips against his cheek. "Merry Christmas, James," she affirmed, and stepped away before he could see her blush.

Remus had been watching the whole encounter while Sirius had gone off to dance with some Hufflepuff girl he was acquainted with, and a small smile crept onto his face. So, it was official. The cogs had officially been set in motion.

With all the excitement bubbling inside him, James had gone to see the tallest marauder, who had interrupted his dance without a second thought. From what he could see, Remus thought that the seeker was probably telling his friend about his encounter with Lily using lots of wild arm movements, probably in relation to the thoughts that had been rattling around his head at the time. After he had been congratulated, he left to go and get a drink.

It occurred to Remus that James hadn't come to tell _him_.

He didn't get long to muse over his thoughts, however. Jingle Bell Rock, which had taken over from the Jackson 5, had finished playing, and from the look on Sirius' face as he pounded over to drag Remus up to dance, this had to be Christmas by another of Padfoot's favourite bands, The Who.

Most of the student body had joined in with a dance led by Charlie and Delia, which seemed to be a close adaptation of the Hand Jive, but Sirius insisted on whirling the werewolf around in a strange and wild dance that Remus could hardly keep up with. He was glad to be caught up in it, though, no longer the innocent, forgotten bystander. This semi-relationship with Sirius would have its downsides, but it certainly had plenty of upsides, too.

The song finished, and entirely drained of energy, Remus flopped down in his seat with a drink of pumpkin juice after telling a still lively Sirius that he would die of exhaustion if he had to try and keep up with him any more. It wouldn't have mattered if he'd stayed on the dancefloor, however, as another song didn't begin playing just yet. Instead, James called for silence, and received it pretty quickly.

Sirius took a seat beside his friend again. "This is that thing he was talking about, then."

"Yes, probably."

"Ladies, gentlemen, and Sirius Black." James began, and received a low bow from the boy in question in reply. "I'd like to bring to your attention the opening of a new section of the ball – a section which me and Miss Evans have affectionately dubbed 'Can You? Corner'."

"You mad bastard!" called Sirius, in approval. McGonagall looked as if she might have liked to bring him great pain, but the rest of the students only laughed, and after all, it was Christmas.

"Anyone signed up for playing 'Can You, Can't You?' can continue to play for the duration of the ball in the corner to my direct right, should they decide to. If you're not signed up, you can't play; but anyone's welcome to sign up if you just speak to Sirius. I'm sure he'll be only too pleased to induct you."

"The more cooks spoiling the broth, the merrier!" Sirius called, which received another hearty laugh, even from Professor Dumbledore.

"Without further ado, I'm opening 'Can You? Corner', and let the rest of the ball resume, I guess. Carry on!"

At this, the Miss Merlins began to warble their version of 'Charming Christmas' down the speakers, and the hall was once more flooded with dancing and talking.

"You coming, Moony?" asked Sirius, who had already stood up to go and take his place as the centre of attention as King of the Corner and was waiting to see if he'd be followed by yet another admirer.

Remus shook his head. "Actually, I think I'll just watch the dancing for a bit."

The other boy shrugged, concealing his disappointment. "Suit yourself. See you in a while."

---

The corner was filled with fluttering aeroplanes decorated with sprigs of holly, and, of course, Gryffindors that were eager to see someone partake in a dare during the ball; even if it would be under the watchful eye of Professors McGonagall, Ford and – admittedly – a slightly tipsy Slughorn. As soon as Sirius arrived, the crowd roared for entertainment, and he could do nothing but deliver. To the players' cheers of amusement, he reached straight up and chose a red.

With a practised flick, he unfolded the paper aeroplane in a matter of seconds, and James arrived just in time to hear the dare read out. "_Christmas is a time for presents, bad music, good food and making a total and utter prat out of yourself_." He accentuated the last words for effect, and sure enough, most of the crowd were laughing at his dry delivery. He grinned at their reaction to something so simple, and carried on. "_Seeing as today is so special a day, why don't you go ahead and enjoy looking like an idiot? Can you dance solo?_" He screwed his face up, and nobody knew whether this was intentional and deliberate or a genuine display of distaste for this particular challenge. "_Within the next half hour, choose a decent song to dance to and tear up the dance floor with your – ahem – slick moves. An elected panel of three judges will decide whether or not you pass or fail. A note on your forfeit – I'll just say that losers make excellent snowball targets… Worth: 850 points_."

"Right," said James, who had obviously been preparing to organise this dare. "who wants to be on the panel?" It seemed that nearly everybody wanted the chance, so he decided just to go for the people who were likely to make the most amusing comments. "I think we'll have… Charlie and Delia as one joint judge. Yeah, and that means you have to come to the same decision."

The twins grinned at Sirius, who waved.

"Who else? Ah… Daniel Turner. Do you want to do it?"

Daniel Turner, a dark-haired fourth-year with a cheeky grin and no fear when it came to challenges, stepped out next to the twins. "Yeah, I'll have a go. Can't dance to save my life, like."

"Last one. I don't know. Maybe-"

"I'll do it, Potter."

"Professor McGonagall?"

She swept alongside the other temporary judges, and conjured a chair for each. "Yes. I believe that somebody on this panel had better stand for reason rather than how much Black waggles his hips."

"Isn't that what dancing's about, Professor?" Daniel asked, grinning, but the smile faded at a stony stare from the deputy head.

Sirius, who had been silent for all this time, perked his ears up at the song that had just begun playing, and decided it was now or never, even if it was 'Santa Baby'. "This one," was all he said, and made his way to the dancefloor once again – this time, alone. It cleared quickly when Lily indicated so, and as the seats around the edges of the hall were filled, all eyes turned to Sirius, who looked as if for once he'd rather just blend into the background and be completely inconspicuous.

He began dancing on the first line of the song. He was far more graceful than Remus would have expected. Once he had a fair understanding of what this dare entailed, he had thought that perhaps Sirius would go for the entertaining, mad and wacky angle, but it seemed that he had been wrong.

Alright, Remus admitted, he wasn't fantastic, but nobody had expected him to launch into such a smooth routine-like something-or-other like he had, and the surprise was enough to stun everybody into silence. Every now and again, he caught a glimpse of the boy's face, which looked to be set in stone with fear.

He couldn't help but think that he was very cute when he was out of his comfort zone.

When the song drew to a close, Sirius stopped right on time on the edge of the floor closest to his temporary panel, and rushed to get back into the crowd before the applause and cheers started.

McGonagall was the first to speak. "I will be honest, Mr. Black," she said, "I was expecting a ridiculous rendition of a silly party dance or some other such nonsense, but I am, I shall admit, pleasantly surprised. I am intrigued to see how your ballroom is; that is the style in which you are trained, is it not?"

He was surprised. "Actually, yes, it is, Professor. My parents suggested I take lessons in order to improve my future profile as a bachelor."

"I would deem it appropriate to say that you have passed."

There was a low murmur of interest amongst the crowd, which Charlie rescued him from. "I think I'd have died if I'd gone up there," she stated plainly, "even if we have done a couple of classes."

Delia's thought track was far less sympathetic. "Why did you pick Santa Baby?"

"I suppose it just has a nice, universally recognisable underbeat," he replied, which nobody was expecting, and which nobody commented on.

"I'm saying pass," Delia concluded, "and so is she."

Despite James' stammers of, "That's not how it was supposed to work…" Charlie nodded in agreement, and offered a smile of encouragement.

"Well, I think you're all wrong." Daniel stated, and it didn't look as if he was kidding. "Daft song when you could have gotten Potter to shove The Who back on, and you were too… I dunno. Feminine. So I'm saying fail, not that it matters now all the girlies have decided they liked it." He grinned to show that he didn't intend any malice, and Sirius grinned back.

"All settled then?"

"Yeah, you pass. Well done, mate." James announced, and patted him on the back. "That was fantastic."

"Thanks." Sirius replied, and it felt like the first instance of a genuine compliment and acceptance that had passed between the two friends in a very long time.

The rest of the ball passed more or less without incident, and Lily returned to her common room proud of an event that she felt had gone rather well, actually. As she and James talked about their accomplishment into the night, thoughts of their brief encounter under the mistletoe flickering through both of their minds, they both wondered if it really was 'Anarchy in the UK' that they could hear echoing through the corridors.

**What's this? What's this? A chapter done on time? **

**What's this? An afternote in rhyme!**

**NB – Sorry that this has been uploaded late – but it **_**was **_**finished for midnight on Christmas Eve!**


	12. Can You Snog James Potter?

**Big thank-you's to everybody who has been reading this story, even if you haven't reviewed. I really appreciate all your support!**

**In the middle of a conversation about how Sirius can get away with saying the most cheeky, flirty and often rather anarchic things, I have just said to my cousin "Sirius Black gets away with murder," and then realised that he was thrown in Azkaban for twelve years on suspicion of killing a load of muggles. Oh dear.**

**During said conversation, I also managed to laugh at my own jokes, multiple times… whereas this stunningly beautiful cousin of mine (who, may I add, is sitting beside me with a gun as I write) watched in awe of my stupidity.**

**Finally, I'm going to explain Remy's non-transformation. He did it in the weeks between chapters ten and eleven, OK? What do you mean the full moon didn't happen then in 1970? It just did, alright? Get over it. Author's licence!**

**I love you all. I'm sorry; and I'm also sorry that this has taken so long. I've been really busy with homework and such, so I haven't been writing… back to business now, though!**

**Chapter Twelve**

With the youthful ignorance that afflicted many of the students at Hogwarts, Sirius had forgotten that soon after the Christmas holidays ended, the practice exams were due to begin, and was more or less pressganged into nightly studying sessions with Remus in the common room. A week or so into January, he found himself bored witless with a sickeningly large tome on herb properties propped against his legs, which were crossed and pulled up onto the chair with him. 

"I'm bored. I want to do something _fun_."

As much as Remus knew how easy it was for Sirius to become distracted, he was genuinely surprised at this. "Don't you want to study so that you can do well in your exams?"

"I'd rather shag a monkey," affirmed Sirius in a voice that held a dangerous but manageable level of sarcasm.

"Ape rape!" James declared as he clambered his way through the portrait.

"That it is," Sirius said, and, now he had something else to give his attention to, threw the book on the table, pages flapping as it spun. The werewolf twitched, but knew better than to protect a volume that the darker-haired boy had discarded. "'cos I refuse to read another word. Entertain me, Jamie. I'm horrendously bored." Remus looked like he'd been hit, so Sirius quickly corrected himself. "That's not what I meant."

"Ignore him; he's a moron."

"Yes, yes; what he said."

Remus shook his head, bemused. "You both confuse me with your animal debauching and your assertions of idiocy."

James was quick to counter. "And you confuse us with your long words."

Everybody grinned, and the situation was, thankfully, diffused. James took a seat and ran a hand through his hair. "Guess what?"

"There are no educated guesses with you, Jimmy; just numerous wild stabs in the dark."

"Maybe so, but you'll like this." He paused for effect. "_Lily_ just reminded _me_ that I'm due a date for my ring… er… thingy. Contract!" He slapped his hands against his knees and leaned back against the chair, as if a weight had been lifted. "_She_ reminded _me_! Not that I needed reminding – I've just been a bit reluctant to bring it up with all this goodwill between us recently and all."

"Wahey!" was Sirius' only contribution, but it was clear from his facial expression that he was far more pleased than his words betrayed. His ego barred him from publicly basking in his friend's achievement – or pleasure, as it were – but everybody knew that Sirius really did care about how his friends did.

Remus was a little more practical and structured about his response. "That's great, James! When and where are you going?"

"Uh, just Hogsmeade, this Friday after school. Leaves me with only two and a half days to prepare!"

"That's one, actually; no time left today and you'll be working all day Friday."

"Thanks, Remus, that makes me feel a lot better."

"You'll be fine! You've been preparing your whole life, anyway." Sirius curled up a little, performing now. "Prongs in the womb – what shall I wear for my first time out with Lily Evans?"

"Yeah, all that time and I still haven't decided."

"Just wear what you wear when you usually see her. You share a dormitory, for goodness' sake!"

"Remus, I love it when you talk sense, but now is just one of those rare occasions when you're not. I have to look my best for this."

Sirius was about to laugh, but realised that his friend was genuinely slightly panicking about this. He sat up straight again, having still been acting James-the-Foetus for the benefit of a studying Charlie, who was restraining a giggle. "Listen, it's going to be alright. _You're _going to be alright. She's not expecting you to turn up looking like Venus or whatever."

"Venus was female; the Roman goddess of love," Remus interjected, having been extremely well read on Roman mythology and the origin of his own unusual name, but nobody commented.

"I'll feel better if I look half-decent."

"You look more than half-decent anyway!" Sirius said, exasperated, and was then forced to add, "And no, I'm not coming on to you."

"Good, because if you did I'd wipe it straight off."

"That's absolutely disgusting." Remus remarked in a singsong voice, which showed that whether or not he had been wrapped in cotton wool as a child, he was still used to these kinds of innuendos and references to things perhaps best left not referred to.

"Trust me, Prongs. I'm practically Casanova."

Charlie could no longer contain her amusement and burst into peals of laughter, shortly dragging Remus and James with her. Only Sirius remained in the dust, completely unaware of what was funny, and found himself thinking perhaps the most clichéd thought he could muster – _was it something I said_?

---

It was rare for the Dawson twins not to know things that had transpired between Lily and James, but they only discovered that this date was due to happen on Thursday morning at breakfast, and Lily had to admit that their astonishment had been worth the wait.

"You _reminded_ him." Delia repeated flatly. "_You_ reminded _him_."

"Yes, that's right," replied Lily, smiling sweetly like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"I'm surprised, but I think I understand." Charlie said, pointing a finger at Lily. This surprised both her twin and the head girl, and both looked up at the same time to hear her verdict. "You've got a crush on him."

Lily blushed scarlet. "I do not!"

"I beg to differ." Delia commented, catching on. "I think Charlie's right. I think you crave his affection."

Despite Lily's assertions that they were both wrong, the twins continued with this line of teasing. "The perfect couple! Head boy and girl, together in holy wedded bliss."

"Ahh, it'll be lovely. Can we be bridesmaids?"

"Yeah, that'd be great! Let's be Lily's bridesmaids!"

"D'you think Sirius'd be best man?"

"Oh, stop it!" Lily begged, laughing weakly. "You know that would never happen."

To her suspicion, however, Charlie and Delia _did_ stop it, immediately, and she knew they were up to something new – not that she could prove it. Five minutes of giggling and a patiently waiting head girl later, Charlie handed a piece of paper to the redhead.

"If this is what I think it is," Lily said plainly, "then I refuse to speak to either of you." She glanced down at the parchment, which had been hastily scribbled on in ballpoint. _To our lovely Lily - because you love him so much, and seeing as you're going to have a nice couple of opportunities to do this, we thought we'd dare you to add some incentive. Can you snog James Potter? Worth: 5,000 points._ "I'm refusing to speak to either of you."

The twins laughed delightedly, and she stuffed the parchment into her bag hastily. Having anybody find it and get the wrong idea just simply wouldn't do, after all.

Having bid her goodbyes to Charlie and Delia, she set off for Potions where she found Professor Slughorn speaking to Sirius, whose feet were slung across the chair in front – James'. From what she could hear, the discussion was relating to the nature of Sirius' footwear. He had on thick-soled black leather boots covered in straps and belts, and although they suited him and his image, they weren't exactly subtle.

"Master Black, I couldn't care less which of these ridiculous icons of yours wears them; they are not a part of the Hogwarts uniform and during school hours, you are not to wear them."

"That's the point, Professor; they're a symbol of anarchy."

"Ah, yes, anarchy. Is this part of this ridiculous punk movement in which a bunch of so-called extremists do exactly the same things as each other and in doing so, believe they can call themselves individuals?"

"No, sir, that's fascism."

The fact that fascism had not a great deal to do with what Slughorn had described did not damage the laughter that Sirius' response received.

"Alright, alright, settle down. Kindly remove those monstrosities in my classroom if nowhere else, Master Black, or I shall be forced to charm them pink."

Sirius shrugged. "Go ahead, sir, if you think it'll make them more unique."

"Oh, come on, just take them off. You can put them on again afterwards." Remus advised gently, having realised that his friend would be wholly intending to restore the shoes to their original colour afterwards, but also that Slughorn's colouring charms were impossibly strong holding.

His efforts, however, were rewarded with a look from the boy in question, who then turned around and faced the front in irritation. Only Lily noticed the werewolf's face crumple before he corrected himself.

He didn't care; of course not.

Sirius would come around, anyway, wouldn't he?

Lily took the seat beside Remus. "OK?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine. Just, ah, made a bad suggestion, I think."

She gave him a sympathetic smile, and began to arrange her things on the desk as Slughorn began to speak. It appeared that Sirius' romantic favour was no longer shining on Remus, and the playful affection that he had showered on the werewolf had dried up. Lily knew exactly what had happened; Sirius had gotten bored. She'd seen it all before. The thing was that Remus didn't seem to see it this way.

It surprised her that he had fallen under the same spell – metaphorically speaking, of course – as all Sirius' other conquests. He'd thought that he was going to be the boy's one-and-only; that his friend had somehow changed and was ready to start settling down in a 'proper' relationship, whatever that was.

Poor Remus – that was what they all thought, all these girls. You could see it in their eyes and in the way that they walked. When they were holding his hand it was like the sun was shining just for them, and when he smiled at them you could tell that they'd fallen head over heels, completely and utterly in love with the boy that would break their hearts.

When she was sure the professor wasn't looking, she pulled a spare piece of parchment out of her bag and scribbled a note on it before passing it to Remus, who accepted it with the tired grace of a defeated boy.

_Don't worry; he's just pissed off because Slughorn's right._

He smiled as he finished reading it, and wrote back.

_Thank you._

---

The last lesson of the day was Herbology, and nothing had changed. As much as Remus had accepted Lily's point about why Sirius was in such a mood, he was still upset about the way he was being treated – understandably, of course.

Sirius, naturally, was still being moody, and would only really respond properly to James. He'd snapped at Lily earlier for suggesting he speak to Remus, and only restrained himself from really letting rip because he knew that James would kill him if he did.

Lily only just realised that the professor was going to partner everybody up in time as he reeled off the names. She was going to be working with a girl she'd noticed but had never actually spoken to before; Beatrice Bellamy. Beatrice, who had only started at Hogwarts the previous year, was small for her age but was nicely in proportion and had friendly facial features. At least she would be working with someone who she'd be able to talk to - Remus had inevitably been put with Sirius.

She realised that she had been staring into space when Beatrice walked up and smiled at her. "Hello, I'm Bea. I don't think we've spoken before, but you're Lily, aren't you?"

"That's right." Lily smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'd be in your dormitory, but the heads have their own common room, so…"

"Ah, so that's how we haven't met." Bea gave her a smile. "Anyway. Corsius roots."

Lily shook her head as if she'd completely forgotten about the work they were supposed to be doing. "Yes, sorry! I'll get the roots if you'll set up the equipment. I'm sorry."

Twenty minutes later, neither of them could stop laughing. Admittedly, Lily didn't really have that many close friends besides Charlie and Delia, but straight away it was easy for her to recognise that this girl could definitely become one of her best friends. They had plenty in common, from music tastes to work ethics, and were currently discussing how silly it was that people got so worked up about Quidditch.

"I don't even understand the _rules_ properly. There's too much going on for me to keep up with!"

Lily nodded, giggling. "I know. I'll be watching it, and the suddenly everyone will cheer and I'm like, 'What's happened? What's happened?'"

"Yeah, and then someone says, 'Aren't you _watching_ the game?'"

"And you're too scared to say that you just don't get it."

"And you end up just smiling and nodding!"

They started laughing again as Remus walked past, carrying two pairs of gloves. He smiled and shook his head. "Glad to see some people are enjoying themselves." All three glanced over at Sirius, who flicked a paper ball nowhere in particular moodily. "I'm doing everything myself."

"Never mind." Lily said, and he sighed.

"I suppose."

With that he returned to his and Sirius' desk and handed one of the pairs of gloves to his partner, who pulled them on as though it was an inconvenience. Both girls' eyes trailed his journey back to his seat, and once he had taken his chair again, Bea lowered her voice. "He's gorgeous, isn't he?"

"Who, Remus?"

"Yeah. I think he's really sweet."

"Mm. He's a good friend – not really my type, though, if I'm honest."

"No?"

"No."

There was a pause, before Bea cut into it. "Do you think he'd go out with me if I asked him?"

"He might do." Lily replied, and then thought about what she had said. Alright, so he'd resigned himself to being Sirius' plaything, but Sirius was just being cruel to him. It didn't seem fair that such a genuine and considerate boy should be so heavily at someone like Sirius' beck and call. In fact, Bea would probably be a better match for him, taking hobbies and academics into consideration. If she talked to him, maybe he'd think this way, too. She'd have to give it a go. "I'll talk to him for you, if you like."

"Would you? Ooh, I'll go all embarrassed."

The word 'embarrassed' only reminded her that the following day, she'd be meeting James in Hogsmeade as part of their Transfiguration contract; he'd stayed true to his word and left Snivellus – it was Severus, _Severus_ – well and truly alone. She banished the word from her mind. It wouldn't do to lose her head in the middle of Herbology. "There's nothing to be nervous about. He's lovely."

Bea nodded. "Thank you." Dropping her serious face out of habit, she laughed. "I'll have to run and hide."

James watched them chatting happily from where he was sitting, his partner, Jade – a Hufflepuff boy he didn't really know – having gone to get some more roots to test. He couldn't help but smile. Lily was even prettier than usual when she laughed. Drawing his gaze away, he laid eyes on a sight far less pretty. Remus had finished his and Sirius' work, it seemed, and both were sitting in silence, arms crossed and looking in opposite directions. They were more alike than anyone realised, least of all themselves. It was a shame that they were so up and down.

Well, _they_ really meant _Sirius_, of course. He was being very obnoxious about everything. Part of James blamed Slughorn for initiating this mood, but of course if that hadn't happened, something else would have.

As important as this crisis was, he found his thoughts wandering back over to join Lily. He had just about figured out what to wear, save for his shoes, and now only had to decide where he'd suggest they go and potential topics of conversation. The Sirius and Remus Situation was bound to crop up, and he discovered, guiltily, that he was grateful for it having happened. If all else failed, they could fill the silence with '_Isn't it ghastly?_'s and '_Oh, what a shame_'s.

---

Thankfully, even though Sirius had been giving him the silent treatment, Remus kept up with his accidental tradition of taking a very long time to gather his things to leave the classroom. James had been planning on waiting to wait for him, but Lily had gestured at him to leave with Sirius so that she could speak to Remus, and he had done so without a second thought.

He pretended not to notice her until he had finished packing up; presumably to postpone the impending conversation, which he knew he couldn't avoid. "Oh, hello, Lily."

"Hello, Remus. Bad lesson?"

He didn't have to answer – instead, he dived straight into making excuses for Sirius. "He's just stubborn, that's all."

"I'd say 'cruel' was a better adjective."

Remus shook his head, unwilling to accept that he'd already accepted the truth. "Baby, dummy, spat. That's all." He repeated himself. He breathed in through his nose, worn out. By mutual agreement, they began the walk back to the castle, nodding their heads towards the professor. "Don't think I don't appreciate your concern. I do; I just… I think…" Another deep breath, and another tired look. "I think I can hang on until he's grown out of it."

"You'll be waiting a long time. He's always acting like he's got PMT."

"What's that? Post-Moony Tactlessness?"

"More like he's a Perpetually Moody Tosser."

They smiled at each other wryly. Neither wanted to admit that the only reason it was funny was because both were true. Remus was suddenly grateful that he had Lily to talk to about things like this. James, Peter and Sirius were fantastic friends, but he'd never been able to confide in them properly.

"You seem to have made a new friend."

That was right; Lily had almost forgotten. "Yes; Beatrice. Bea. She's really funny." She paused for a moment. "She likes you, you know."

He was taken aback, and despite his situation, he couldn't restrain a smile at this announcement. "Really?"

"I think 'gorgeous' and 'sweet' were her exact words."

He blushed crimson, and turned his face to the floor as he walked, watching his feet. He could have cursed himself for thinkingthat Sirius had never said anything like that about him. "Gorgeous is a stretch."

"Don't sell yourself short." she said soothingly, sensing that this conversation was going her way. "She really fancies you. She wanted me to scout out whether you'd go to Hogsmeade with her, or something."

He coughed. "This is rather new for me."

"It's a bit new for her, as far as I can tell." This was a lie; but a white one. She knew Remus would feel better about going out with someone who he believed to have similar experience to him. "What do you think?"

"I'm flattered, certainly." There was a short silence in which he weighed up the proposition in his mind, and he suddenly wished he hadn't as a very disappointed mental imagine of Sirius flashed into view. The drop in his mood was visible. "I don't know whether Sirius would endorse it, though."

"You're not his pet, Remus." She said it as gently as possible to try and take the edge off the implication, but it was still sharp. He knew he was acting like a lapdog but there was nothing he could do about it; he was afraid to admit it to anybody but himself but he was absolutely smitten.

He sighed. "I know that. That's what he's used to, though."

"And you're going to bend over backwards to conform to that?" she replied in a tone that suggested exactly how disdainful she was of this concept.

"Well…" he had no argument. "You're right; I know you are. It's difficult, though."

"I know it is, but look at the way he's treating you at the moment! He can hardly kick up a fuss when he's been practically ignoring you, you poor thing. You'd be well within your rights to go out on a harmless trip to the Three Broomsticks with Bea." He still wasn't convinced, so she offered her final piece of ammunition. "Alright, then, think about it this way. If you act like one of his little girlfriends, then you'll get treated like one. You know what happens when he gets bored of them; they're discarded like broken records. I don't like saying this, but he's getting bored of you now, and that's the truth." Remus met her eyes. It hurt, but he knew it had to be said and that she was doing him a kindness by doing so. "The reason that's happening is because you're doing the same things as the rest – so be different! Be a challenge. Make it obvious that _he's_ going to have to pay _you_ some attention if he wants to hang onto you."

This was a good enough incentive for him. "OK. You're right. I'll go out with Beatrice. You tell her I'll meet her outside of the Three Broomsticks at seven tomorrow."

They had arrived outside the common room, and Lily flashed him a smile. "No, Remus – _you_ tell her."

She said the password and stepped inside the portrait, leaving Remus to gather his wits. He caught the hatch, and took a couple of deep breaths.

Just do it.

He climbed through the entrance, refusing to allow himself to register that Sirius would be watching him the entire time.


	13. Can You Date In Despair?

I can hardly believe I'm introducing chapter thirteen! I think this is the furthest I've ever taken any story. I'm so grateful to everybody who's been reading it; you're all an immense motivation.

Chapter twelve took an entire month, I'll have you know! Alright, so only three days' writing time; but what I really mean is that I hadn't updated for a month, for which I apologise. I've been busy.

Muchly love to Lotty, who I will miss very much when she leaves. Stay in touch!

Oh, hang on. Sirius wants a word.

_Hello, girlies! wink I don't know why I'm being portrayed as a bit of a tosser at the moment._

Well, that's how you're acting.

_pout Am not._

Don't start… oh, alright. Here's Sirius' side.

Chapter Thirteen

It was no excuse, but Sirius had had a really bad day. He'd woken up at five in the morning – which was not a welcome hour unless it was Christmas – and couldn't get back to sleep. A series of cosmetic charms had taken care of the bags under his eyes, but he couldn't do anything about being so goddamn tired.

Everything, it seemed, was so much more annoying when you'd had nearly three hours' less sleep. He'd even managed to snap at Remus just because Slughorn had been on at him for his boots (which he'd ended up wanting to take off in the heat, anyway) and that wasn't fair at all. He'd felt guilty about it, but he was in no state to apologise at the time. The rest of the day had started to crash as well, and the only solution he could muster was just to refrain from talking, full stop.

James had been keeping out of his way – wisely – and so hadn't noticed how exhausted Sirius was until they were walking back to the common room after the end of the day. "Christ." he'd said, "You look dreadful. Not had enough beauty sleep?"

Under normal circumstances, Sirius might've bit back, but he just shook his head. _I'm too worn out for this._

"Alright, mate. Come back to the common room and we'll get you something tall, strong and completely illegal."

"I'm not in the mood for sex." Sirius responded and James grinned, having recognised the humour and the change in attitude.

"Atta boy."

Once he'd had a glass of Wiggenweld potion (topped off with iced vodka, of course) Sirius felt a whole lot better, and was even in the mood to apologise profusely to Remus, who he hoped would be partial to a make-up kiss and then even perchance a quick fondle in the dorm.

On second thoughts, he'd probably not be up for that. Never mind. Here he was clambering through the portrait, now, looking spindlier and taller than he really was with his thin limbs, and all cute and dishevelled. He'd been walking in the wind. His amber eyes were flicking around the common room, looking.

Sirius grinned at him, waiting for the boy's eyes to settle on him, but they never did. They stopped somewhere else; he hadn't even registered that Sirius was sitting there.

"Bea," he called, attracting the attention of one of the girls in their year, who looked up to smile at him, "can I borrow you for a minute, please?" She blushed lightly, and stepped over to where was standing slightly away from the portrait entrance. Sirius could only just hear what they were saying. "Sorry. It's just that I spoke to Lily."

"Oh, right." She obviously hadn't expected this so quickly – not that it didn't seem to Sirius that she hadn't expected it at all.

"Yeah… well, what I meant to say is… ah… I just wondered if you might like to come for a drink in the Three Broomsticks?"

Sirius' face fell. She had to say no. She had to. But… why would she?

"That'd be nice, yes."

He broke out into a smile – a wide, heartbreaking smile – like this was the only thing he'd ever wanted to hear. "Great. I'll see you here tomorrow at seven, then."

"See you then." She nodded, smiling at him and they parted with a fond look, her dashing back over to her friends, a blush creeping onto her face – her thieving, snatching, Remus-seducing face. They'd better not kiss.

Sirius flopped down into his chair and ran a hand through his hair. Well, that was that. He'd blown it. It had been inevitable, really. He'd always managed to ruin his chances with the decent ones.

"Plenty more fish in the sea." Charlie said from behind him, and patted his shoulders. He sighed.

"Well, if you ever meet his twin then let me know."

_Twin…_

She'd already started to walk away when he knelt up on his chair and spun around, grateful that sometimes, he had flashes of fast thought that were unrelated to sex. "Hey, Charlie!"

"What is it?"

He pressed his hands against the back of the chair and gave her one of those grins of his that were, in his not-so-humble opinion, pretty damn irresistible. "Don't I owe you a date?"

---

"Am I the only one not going out tonight?" Delia said, smoothing out the tops that Charlie had decided were unfit for purpose on the bed.

"Yes," replied her sister, in too much of a hurry to sweeten the truth. "I'd say you can share Sirius, but I know you think he's vomit-inducing."

"That's because he _is_." She stood up from the bed and walked over to Charlie's trunk, budging her aside in order to pull out a blue top, which she passed to her sister along with a dark pair of bootcut trousers. "Wear that, and no arguments."

Grateful, Charlie smiled and began to put everything else back in her trunk haphazardly. "Has Lily decided what she's wearing yet?"

"No; I said we'd go and help her after she's had her revision hour."

They both rolled their eyes, both used to the idea but unable to fathom its purpose.

"Set off now, then?"

"Yes, and bring the make-up."

When the twins arrived at the heads' dormitory, James was sitting on the sofa writing up his Herbology so that when Lily asked him if he'd done his homework, he could answer honestly. They exchanged greetings, and the twins were about to walk past him without any further incident before they realised what Lily would think about James knowing that she had called in the experts to help her decide what to wear. Charlie pivoted to speak to him. "James," she said quietly, "go away and under pain of death, don't come anywhere near this corridor until ten to seven. You were never here, and you have no idea we came to help."

Knowing better than to interfere with the Dawson twins when they were up to something, James stood up. "Who are you, again?"

"Good boy. Go and play with Sirius."

James pulled a face and started walking to the common room. He had been intending to talk to Sirius about this whole shenanigan anyway. He had known that after a personal agreement between him and Delia, Sirius was obliged to take Charlie on a date, but he couldn't understand why his friend would do it now in the midst of his imminent relationship with Remus.

As it turned out, Sirius was in the bathroom arranging his hair with muggle styling wax. "Hello, Prongs. I'm surprised you're not preening yourself, too."

It was the one most half-hearted attempts at a jibe that James had ever heard, and coming from Sirius, this was a little worrying. "What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing." Sirius replied, but discreetly pointed a finger towards the dormitory as he carried on with the painstaking process of sculpting perfection.

James understood, and stepped into the main dormitory area where Remus was straightening his tie in the mirror nervously. He'd never been on a date before, and having been too embarrassed to ask any of his friends for help, had completely overshot on how formally to dress. The head boy decided that even though he needed to get the werewolf out of the way in order to talk to Sirius properly, it would be unforgivable to do so now and let his friend go out and humiliate himself. "Hello, Remus," he began, treading carefully. "That's a nice tie, but I think just a shirt would be better for the Three Broomsticks."

They'd been friends for seven years, so Remus took the hint without being too ashamed, removing the tie, and turned around. "I have no idea what to do, say or wear. I'm a pathetic shambles and I'm going for all the wrong reasons."

James heard the sound of wax being smoothed against hair pause. "Oh, come on. You'll be fine. You just need to act like you usually do." He gave a pause of his own, and continued in a quieter voice. "And you know that you could have come and asked for advice whenever you wanted."

Remus nodded almost apologetically. "Thank you."

"For now, though, open up your trunk."

It was hard to decide what to advise Remus to wear, as he had a limited budget for clothes. In the end, however, they decided on a plain white t-shirt and a dark blue pair of drainpipes belonging to Sirius (who James hoped would be mature enough not to mind). "There, that's much better."

"Thanks, James."

"It's alright. Now go downstairs and have a drink to calm yourself down, OK?" He patted the boy on the back and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Good luck, and enjoy yourself."

Sirius came through as soon as Remus' footsteps could no longer be heard on the stairs. "What did he mean by…"

"…all the wrong reasons? I don't know. He wouldn't have told me with you in there, anyway, and quite rightly. What are you doing going on a date with Charlie?"

"Well, me and Delia had this agreement…"

"I know that." Suddenly, however, his confusion was lost as everything pieced together in his mind. He groaned. "Sirius, I swear to God, you make the stupidest decisions sometimes. I know why you've done it."

"I didn't do anything!"

"Exactly, you stupid git! That includes thinking! What, you thought because Remus asked Beatrice out you'd have to get your own back by going on a date of your own?"

Sirius looked abashed. "Well, not get my own back, exactly…"

"You moron! Don't you realise what he was doing? Don't you realise what _you're _doing?"

"Not really." Sirius admitted, feeling worse as time went on. James _never_ shouted at him unless he'd really done something to deserve it. In fact, the last and only other time had been when Sirius had tried to prank Snape by telling him where Remus would be at the full moon, and that was two years ago now.

"He only did it because he wanted to make you jealous! He wants you to pay him a bit of attention, and now you've gone and made it seem like you've had enough of him."

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? I've never been dumped like that before-"

"Forget your ego, for fuck's sake!"

Suddenly, there was a chasm between them. It was a well-known fact that James Potter did not usually swear at people, not properly, and especially not at Sirius Black. They both straightened up, attempting to be taller – a contest which Sirius won, though he couldn't bring himself to be happy about it seeing as he'd been such an idiot about everything.

Sirius knew that if he didn't apologise now, the argument would last for weeks, his ego be damned; this was his best friend, after all. "I'm sorry."

The atmosphere softened. "Alright. I'm sorry for shouting at you; but you can see why, right?"

"Yeah. I had to do something, though, Prongs. It would have driven me mad."

"That was the idea." He went to ruffle up Sirius' hair but decided against it, and pushed his shoulder playfully instead. "What am I going to do with you?"

Sirius thought for a moment, having decided to make a joke in celebration of the tension having lifted. "Could walk me downstairs; it's time to go, now."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah, Jim, it's five to seven."

"Oh, Merlin. I haven't got changed and the girls have commandeered my common room to make Lily gorgeous-er. They won't let me in."

"Is that a hint?"

"Might be."

Sirius sighed and made for the door. "You know I'm coming back with your dressing gown, right?"

"I'll borrow your clothes if you do, and spill shit all down them."

That was all the motivation Sirius needed to bring back something decent, and scampered out the door before James could think any more about ruining his precious clothes.

---

"Sirius? Are you going to talk to me?"

He drank down some firewhisky, watching Charlie out of the corner of his eye as he tipped the bottle down. He was drinking perhaps a little too much at once, but it wouldn't affect him for maybe an hour. "Yeah, yeah. Just thinking… of… er, what to say."

"Of course you are." He looked like he'd had a hard time about something, and she just couldn't bring herself to be angry with him. She rubbed his arm. "Bad day?"

"Yeah, it's been really shit, actually." He gave her a tired smile, letting down his guard for a moment or two. "Sorry for loading that on you."

"Oh, it's alright, don't worry about it. I don't mind."

He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and pressed it against the charmed lighter on the Hog's Head bar before placing it gently between his lips and taking a slight drag.

"Now that I do mind. Put it out, will you?"

"It's not tobacco."

Her eyes widened. "_Gillyweed_? Merlin, Sirius."

"No, no, not gillyweed. I'm not on drugs." He gave her a funny look and continued. "It doesn't taste of anything, or even smell like the muggle ones do; it's just for stress."

"Are you sure it's not just to pose with?" She teased, but he didn't respond. "Come on, at least pretend you want to be here."

He sighed, and took another drink, cigarette poised between practiced fingers. "I do want to be here. You've just caught me on a bad day. I've got withdrawal or something."

This interested Charlie, and she tucked her dark, straight hair behind her ears in order to listen. "Withdrawal?"

"Yeah." It had slipped out, and now he regretted saying it. "Just kidding."

"Sounds like it, too. Just spit it out, won't you?"

Sirius sighed and turned towards the girl he was supposed to be on a date with. "Be warned, it's a long story."

---

Remus, cruel as it sounded, was surprised that he was having a good time with Bea. Lily was right; she was very funny, and he had also discovered that she spoke French. This amused him, because he often liked to speak in it in front of Peter in order to confuse the other boy, which was a little unfair but quite funny.

"Yes, but the thing is that they shouldn't have asked in the first place if they didn't want to know."

Once more, he burst into peals of laughter, blushing at the nature of the conversation. He wasn't used to conversation like this with girls. In fact, her sense of humour reminded him solely of –

"Padfoot." He said aloud, managing to flash a smile onto his face, and cleared his throat, damning himself for his mistake. "Padfoot. You remind me of Padfoot."

She looked up at him, restraining what she really wanted to say. "That's a whole lot of Padfoot, _mon cher_."

He smiled, but felt incredibly guilty, and managed to ruin the rest of the evening for himself as he wallowed in his mistake, as much as he knew that he'd never be able to help thinking about Sirius – never.

---

He'd been nervous when he'd walked up to her, scratching the back of his head and forcing himself to yank that hand back down again when he realised that she might mistake it for ruffling. He'd almost – _almost – _forgotten to button up his shirt as he dashed out of the boys' dormitory when he realised that there were only five minutes to go before he stopped being early and started being late. For all his Potter confidence, he would have killed just to make it all better again, because he was bound to fall over and have her laugh at him, or insult her and have her hate him.

That was an hour ago. Now, everything was golden – although perhaps, he mused, that was because they were eating in a themed restaurant. He looked up at Lily. Things had relaxed as soon as they'd started talking, and he realised that actually, it wasn't going to be an evening on knifepoint. She was wearing her hair long and curly, probably under orders from the twins. She had the earrings on, as well; the ones from Christmas. They were nice. "Have you decided yet?" Her voice broke his train of thought.

"Oh… yes." He grinned. "Sorry. Miles away."

She shook her head, smiling. "I don't believe you. I think you were right here."

"Is it that obvious?"

"James, you are probably the most obvious person I've ever met."

He took a breath in and was about to say something, but then burst into peals of laughter. The waitress threw him a strange look, so Lily started to shush him, but secretly she was quite endeared. "What?"

The head boy managed to clear his throat and stop laughing long enough to say, "Touché."

_That isn't funny_, thought Lily, unable to fathom why she'd started joining in with his laughter, and why she no longer minded that they were attracting attention.

---

When everyone had returned to Hogwarts, it appeared that there was a lot to discuss and so it was mutually agreed that – seeing, Lily had said, as it was a special day - Charlie, Delia, Beatrice and Rachel would move into the heads' dormitory, and James would move back into the Gryffindor boys' for the night so that everyone could talk more-or-less in private.

The boys found themselves pressed with tension, and Sirius' moderate drunkenness didn't help the situation. James had arrived back in a cloud-nine mood and was only just managing to stop smiling like an idiot as he changed into his pyjamas. This was a heavy contrast to both Sirius and Remus' downbeat attitudes, and even Peter could see that this was making things awkward. The fact was that James didn't want to sit and rave on madly about how much of a wonderful time he'd had when it would so clearly be rubbing salt in his friends' wounds, whereas the other two didn't want to ruin the seeker's mood by going on about how _dreadful_ a few hours they'd had.

However slow conversation was, at least it was still passing. "Where did you go, then?" James managed to ask once he'd slipped the white t-shirt he wore to bed on and taken his seat on his bed.

"Uh, Hog's Head." Sirius muttered, and coughed. He knew how hard it was for James to try and make this conversation flow but there really wasn't much he could say. "We just went for a few drinks, is all."

Remus restrained himself from asking exactly how many glasses of firewhisky Sirius counted as 'a few'. "Well, we went to the Three Broomsticks. It was nice." He paused, and then added as an afterthought, "Bea's cool."

"Mm." Peter said, wanting to have some input but failing miserably. Sirius shot him a look.

James couldn't help but notice Remus' distinct lack of enthusiasm about his last sentence. He had spoken to Lily about the reasoning behind his date with Bea, and had had his suspicions about making Sirius jealous completely confirmed. He only hoped that Sirius was seeing through the werewolf's almost transparent comment as easily as he was.

A slightly increased grip on the chaser's bedsheets showed that this was not so, and that Sirius was definitely jealous like Remus had foolishly intended him to be. Black-painted nails were crushing into the soft material like they were to blame. They _were_ to blame. They weren't soft _enough_ if they weren't enticing Remus away from Beatrice bloody Bellamy and between them, instead, with Sirius.

What?

"Sirius, you're going really red."

"Fuck off, Peter."

He'd had enough for one night, and sunk down into his covers. He didn't bother closing the curtains; it wasn't like he needed privacy or anything, and he wanted to hear what was said anyway.

After the short and painful silence that followed, Peter decided he didn't want to be part of this conversation anymore. He muttered an interrupting goodnight into the quiet folds of Remus and James' discussion and shuffled back to the comfort of his pillow before closing the curtains and pulling out his diary.

_Dear diary, _he wrote. _I don't think Sirius likes me any more._

---

Back in the heads' dormitory, the girls were having a completely different time – mainly because they completely understood why the boys had acted like they did.

"I hardly believed it at the time, but Sirius poured his little heart out to me when I asked." Charlie grinned. "It's official – three drinks is all it takes to get that heart of ice to melt."

"I can't believe I didn't see it before. I mean, Remus called me _Padfoot_, for goodness' sake!"

They all shrieked with guilty laughter. It wasn't funny, really, but they all knew that this could be fixed easily and that the boys would laugh too, in time.

"Your James is the only sane one, I swear." Delia threw a packet of pink marshmallows to Lily.

She blushed the colour of the sweets she'd been thrown. "He's not _my_ James. And yes, he is quite sane – a little more than I expected. He'd realised what was going on already."

"Cute _and_ clever." Delia teased, but stopped when Lily threw the packet back at her.

Rachel stirred her hot chocolate. It had been her idea to have a proper girls' sleepover, and had been very pleased when all the others had taken to the notion. It was clear to her that she was the least interesting of the five – though none of the others thought this - and rarely spoke. However, she managed to pipe up now. "We've got to put it back all right, though. They're clearly not going to do it themselves."

"You're right. We need a plan."

"That's the boys' forte. They could probably sort it out themselves if we gave them all false names and we told them what the problem was."

"Probably wouldn't notice, either!"

They all laughed, and then Lily had a sudden brainwave.

"Hang on," she said. "I have an idea."


	14. Can You Take A Shot?

**Fourteen, already? My, my. I apologise to everyone who angst-ed in the last chapter - Sirius especially. He hasn't had much fun recently, has he? We'll just have to make him even angrier and then he can just… PHEW! Let it go.**

**Finally, I apologise for the music in this chapter being up to eight years out of date, but the song I have in mind really fits. The actual words of it don't feature in the story, but without typing up the whole song, the basic lyrics are written below in case you're not familiar with them. I hope you don't mind; thank you please. Very nice.**

**You spur my natural emotions**

**You make me feel like dirt, and I'm hurt**

**And if I start a commotion**

**I run the risk of losing you and that's worse**

**Ever fallen in love with someone**

**Ever fallen in love, in love with someone**

**Ever fallen in love**

**In love with someone you shouldn't've fallen in love with?**

**I can't see us in the future**

**Unless we find out what's to blame**

**What a shame**

**And we won't be together much longer**

**Unless we realise that we are the same**

**You spur my natural emotions**

**You make me feel like dirt, and I'm hurt**

**And if I start a commotion**

**I'll only end up losing you and that's worse**

**Chapter Fourteen**

The boys awoke the next morning to the sound of Sirius' hangover emanating from the bathroom. The eternal sickness, he liked to call it when he was in a better mood. James couldn't help but feel that this time, it was more of an internal sickness. Remus clearly wanted to go and see if he was alright but was restrained by what had happened, so the head boy went instead. He tapped on the door with two of his knuckles. "Sirius, are you alright in there?"

The boy in question opened the door, swiping at his mouth with a hand. He was deathly pale. "Never better."

Normally, he would have just left his friend to it, but James knew what moodiness had done to Sirius yesterday. He threw him a flask of hangover potion, and following that his own bottled Wiggenweld. "Drink up, then."

It took an experienced eye to find the grateful flash Sirius displayed, but James was trained to see it, and it was certainly there. He gave a comforting smile and pulled some clothes out of his trunk, which Lily had magically linked with his trunk in the heads' dormitory for the night so that he could wear anything he liked the next day. However, there was a note lying folded on top of his unorganised stash of clothes with his name written on it in Lily's handwriting. Sensing that it wasn't for the eyes of the others, James tucked it into his sleeve and made for the bathroom.

A silence descended upon the rest as the head boys' idle chatter was removed. Remus coughed awkwardly, and opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again.

"It's alright, Remus, you don't have to force it."

"Sorry." He couldn't help but feel stupid; one of the first things that Sirius had said to him for a while and it was to reprimand him for being ridiculous. The werewolf stared at the floor, sandy hair flopping over his eyes. No wonder the boy had gotten bored of him. In doing so, however, he missed the fond look that Sirius had given him.

Peter didn't. "What was that look for?"

"Oh, it's nothing to do with you."

Having assumed that this look was a negative thing in his pessimistic state of mind, Remus pulled his clothes from his chest and headed for the shower-room to change. Sirius stared after him, gaping and too proud to follow or offer an explanation. He span back to face Peter.

"Now bloody look what you've done!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"You never do, do you?" exploded Sirius. "You never think!" He knew that James would probably say something along the lines of, 'Look who's talking!' and was glad that he wasn't there. "You just blunder along trying to be funny and it doesn't _work_, you just _ruin_ things. It's what everybody thinks."

Peter blinked. He'd known that Sirius had begun to dislike him, but the notion that what he had said was true hurt. Did people really think that about him?

"Well?"

The plumper boy had nothing to say. He shook his head.

"How did I know?" Sirius threw up his hands in frustration at both himself and the other boy and stormed off downstairs to the common room, still only wearing his pyjama bottoms and a thin grey vest.

---

James perched on the edge of the toilet seat with the note that nobody but _Lily Evans_ could have sent him, and with mild tension building up inside of him, unfolded it.

_For the attention of Potter_.

He raised his eyebrows and then grinned when he read the next bit.

_Just kidding; but the look on your face was worth it. I need to ask you a favour – and be warned that if, at any point within the next ten minutes you whisper 'Anything for you, Lily!' to yourself, I no longer require it. I hope you've had the good sense not to open this in front of the other boys, but if you haven't then don't let them see this. The next part won't show until you're alone, but that won't stop you telling them, I suppose._

"Yeah, but you'd kill me if I did."

_Well, apart from the fact that I'd murder you if you did._

James laughed, but silenced himself quickly lest the others hear. He didn't think he'd be able to bear it if he had to share now, and knew if they discovered he had a note whether they saw what it said or not they would be able to pressure him into telling them.

_The idea is to get Sirius and Remus together as that is obviously what should have already happened._

He nodded in agreement absent-mindedly, forgetting that he was reading a letter and not actually speaking to Lily.

_The idea is to make one of them admit they like the other in front of them without realising they're there. I would write easier said than done, but that was a bit of a tongue twister and anyway, you've got your cloak, haven't you? Please don't ask me how I know; you're just not very good at keeping secrets, James._

_We've decided that the easiest target is Sirius, and I know that at this moment in time you'll be either whispering or thinking that we've gone silently mad, because you know Sirius and you know Sirius' pride and you think we've forgotten about that._

She was right.

_Before you've dismissed our plan as useless, let me explain. If Sirius is drunk, Sirius' guard drops. If Sirius' guard is dropped, then even he doesn't know where his limits are. I'm sure you can see where this is going, but just in case, here's an outline…_

As James' eyes flashed over the parchment, he couldn't help but smile. He'd never really thought of the girls as being the type to have intelligence on this side of things as well as the academics. Their plan was as good as any of his, if not better, and he knew he'd be proud to be a part of it, even if it hadn't been mostly Lily's creation.

What even they hadn't realised – but James' trained eye had – was that the plan's chance of success was highly increased by the way it so effortlessly fitted into the tapestry. There would be the perfect opportunity to implement the plan this evening, whether luck shone on them or not.

This afternoon was the Quidditch game against Hufflepuff; an almost guaranteed win, but even if a loss occurred there would still be an afterparty – an afterparty with a coincidentally large amount of alcohol.

---

The two Saturday lessons passed with such tension that it could almost be cut with a knife. Sirius wasn't speaking to Peter, and Peter looked as though he wanted to either beg Sirius to talk to him or hit him until he apologised; though he was capable of achieving neither.

Sirius wasn't speaking to Remus, either, but mainly because for once he didn't know what to say. He knew fine well that he'd hurt the werewolf somehow – not that he knew exactly what he'd done – and also knew that saying the wrong thing would only drive the dagger in further. Remus had, yet again, misinterpreted Sirius' actions, however, and believed firmly that the chaser no longer wished to socialise with him.

Even the girls who'd so cleverly structured a way to reunite them were unsure whether their plan would accomplish anything now, but James continued to be quietly confident. He had total faith in what they were doing, especially when he saw the amount of times both of his friends looked at each other, comically missing each others' glances every time.

Well, perhaps comical was the wrong word. Ironic, he thought, convincing himself. Ironic.

The lessons took all to long to pass. Both were lecture-style lessons without any practical work, so everyone was tired afterwards. This wasn't good for James and Sirius, who were both on the Quidditch team, but after a pep-up drink that, James asserted, contained nothing illegal, both were at least in the correct physical state to play.

"James," Sirius had said as they walked to the changing rooms together, "I don't think I'll be much use in this game. You might as well swap me off."

The captain tutted. "Don't be stupid," he said, even though he'd been thinking something along the same lines. He knew that when his best friend had his mind on something, he couldn't concentrate on anything else, and had been planning on suggesting he sit the game out. That might also have assisted in his route to getting plastered. However, now that he'd proffered the idea, it was James' duty to tell him that he was being ridiculous; that he'd be fine.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you. You know I'm not in the mood."

He went to speed up but James caught his shoulders and turned the dog animagus to face him, styled black hair trapped under his fingers. "I know what's going on, and I know that you've got a lot on your plate, but it's important that you try to just keep going. You think it'll make it better if you're just sitting there in the sidelines with only trouble to focus on? Take my advice and play." He gave him a smile. "It'll all sort itself out."

Sirius nodded, and seemed at least a little bit reassured. He took a deep breath, and after a short pause, nodded again. "Alright, I'll play." He mustered up the dregs of his ego, and spent them on a word he knew his friend deserved. "Thanks."

---

Perhaps three minutes into the game, Sirius lost the quaffle to the most obnoxious of the Hufflepuff chasers. Amidst cries of, "Back off, can't you see he's upset?" from Delia which only made him feel more pathetic, he flew over to James.

"This isn't working."

"It will, it will. Just try to focus. You're the best player on the team; you just need to forget what's going on with Remus and concentrate on that scrap of leather, OK?"

"Who's Remus, again?"

James grinned, but guilt seeped between the gaps in his teeth as he did so and he could tell that Sirius felt it, too. "That's the spirit. Now go and kick arse."

With the added motivation of getting revenge on the Hufflepuff chaser who'd embarrassed him, Sirius turned his attitude around completely and scored with ease before looping for the crowd, air whistling past his ears. He even managed to smile as he got more and more involved in the game, and couldn't wipe that same smile off his face as the team returned to the common room victorious.

By the time he'd sauntered into the party and completed the traditional victory chants with the rest of the house, however, he'd caught sight of Remus wearing a Gryffindor scarf and a 'Go Gryffies' badge multiple times and that blinding grin needed sustenance. As James had planned, the first thing that he stepped in front of was a bottle of blooded firewhisky, and he downed the whole thing in one.

He shook his head as his blood pumped the alcohol into every crevice in his body, swinging his hair around after him. Blooded firewhisky was strong by the bottle, even by his standards, but it was going to take more than one to faze him tonight. He was King of the gutter with his head in the stars, and didn't he deserve just one more? He'd played like a prince, and couldn't see any reason why he shouldn't relax.

James caught him two-thirds through his third bottle – this time an elfin concoction, not so strong on the night but with just as fierce a bite in the morning. "Come on, don't go so fast. Pace yourself, man, you're showing yourself up."

He allowed the bottle to be torn from his hands. James knew best, didn't he? Good old head boy James. _Wonderful _James.

Lily looked over when the chaser began babbling aloud – and was unaware that he was doing so. She'd decided to stay sober in case anything like this happened, but it didn't look like she'd have much of an effect anyway. She wasn't anywhere near strong enough to pull alcohol away from Sirius, and he certainly wouldn't be as willing to give it up to _her_.

"Sirius," James hissed. "Get a grip." Even he knew that having Sirius in such a state was a bad idea. "In fact, come with me."

He dragged his friend upstairs to the dormitory bathroom, held his head over the sink and cast a sobering charm. He didn't want to do this; it was appallingly painful for the target and induced heavy vomiting, but if it was the only way to restore Sirius to a suitable state. The boy in question began jerking with the hurt, and the stag animagus could barely watch. Moments later, he didn't have to as Remus arrived, pulling Sirius' hair away from his face and rubbing his back as the nausea settled in.

"It's alright," he comforted, though he looked just as pale as his friend. James threw him a grateful look, and he nodded. _As if I could abandon him now_.

In his weakened state, Sirius couldn't resist as James and Remus transported him into the dormitory to force some of their trusty, all-purpose Wiggenweld down his throat. Alright, James mused, the drunken part hadn't exactly worked. Ever optimistic, however, he decided that given the nature of what was about to happen that this failure might turn out to be an advantage.

---

When Sirius sauntered back down the stairs into the party, it was as if nothing had ever happened, and everyone kindly pretended that they'd never noticed him leave. A drink was pressed firmly into his hand – a glass of water from James to remind him not to have anything else alcoholic.

Someone suggested they turn the record player on, and to the newly sober marauder's joy, someone had a couple of Buzzcocks A-sides. If anyone new had wandered into the room at this point, they might have believed that he was drunk, but those who were acquainted with Sirius knew that this was just how he was when he was in front of a crowd, and that he certainly would't have this much control over himself if he had been under the influence – that much had been proven earlier. That said, it wouldn't have been a bad guess given that he had jumped on one of the chairs and was conducting a room sing-a-long to Orgasm Addict with his wand.

"He's quite cute when he's at the centre of attention and thinks everyone's in love with him, isn't he?" remarked Charlie as he took a deep bow, but only received a reprimanding look from her sister in reply.

If it was possible for him to get more excited, he did so when he discovered that one of the A-sides was the 'Ever Fallen In Love?' single. Even Remus couldn't refrain from smiling as he bounded around as if on the catwalk, loudly singing along with James and various other quieter voices from the crowd. To everyone's amusement, there were a couple of provocative dance moves to accompany this, the duration of which Lily covered her eyes in mockery, laughing. Everybody seemed to be having a good time now that Sirius was no longer off his face, and at a prompt from Delia, both twins approached James.

"Do you think now is a good time?"

"Yes. I'll do it now. Do you have the stuff?"

Charlie passed him a vial filled with a clear liquid that seemed to have a sparkle of its own, a clean sheet of parchment and her trusty blue ballpoint pen, which she generally made a point of writing in because her mother hated it.

"Thunderbirds are go." He said, giving her a grin.

"As if you watch that, you saddo."

James winked. "Don't tell Lily."

---

After the Buzzcocks 'got tired', according to Sirius, the Sex Pistols inevitably took over, and a couple of songs into Never Mind the Bollocks as he sat down to have a drink of his detestable water, a paper aeroplane flew smartly onto his lap.

"What's that?" said Peter in his first attempt at conversation with the boy after their argument, but was ignored again.

"James, cut the music." Sirius called over the noise.

"Thy will be done, o' Lord," said the head boy, and gladly moved the needle. He'd never admit it, but it had been starting to give him a headache, and he was on the Queen's side anyway.

With a flourish as always, the dare was unfolded. "_It's usually difficult to tell the truth, but not with veritaserum. Can you take a shot? Worth 600 points_." He lifted the small vial of truth potion into the air so the others could see – the same vial that Charlie had passed subtly to James about fifteen minutes ago. It reminded him vaguely of the dare of his Lily had done a month or so ago. He raised an eyebrow, and it was clear he was thinking that this would be easy. In his proud state, he couldn't see them asking him anything worse than whether he was wearing underwear and if so, were they womens'? "This is for amateurs," he said as the conspirators had expected, and pulled the cork from the bottle, downing the entire potion in one. "Who's got a question?"

In order to encourage fairness towards Sirius, and also to ensure that there was time to ask the most important question of all, James called, "Hands up rather than shouting them out, alright?"

To most, this was a neon sign indicating that James was the author of the dare, but Sirius didn't notice, and picked the first hand, which belonged to a brown-haired girl. "Have we ever kissed?"

"Yes," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow. What, had she forgotten or something?

"I _told_ you I was telling the truth!" she said to her friend, but the reply wasn't heard over the rush of voices calling out to be the next person chosen. Sirius nodded at Peter reluctantly in a bout of benevolence, but soon wished he hadn't.

"Did you mean what you said this morning about people not liking me?"

He sighed. "No," he said, but it was obvious he wouldn't have admitted this without prompting from the potion. Peter, however, was elated.

"Great!" he said, but for the second time that evening, nobody listened as the challenger picked the next hand.

The girl squealed before asking, "What's your favourite colour?"

Lily tutted and rolled her eyes at Beatrice. "Fangirls." This gave Beatrice an idea, and before Sirius could answer, she called out, "Do you wish you could eradicate all fangirls from the face of the earth?"

The girl looked like she'd like to slap Bea, but everyone else laughed; even Sirius before he answered, "My favourite colour's purple, and to be fair, I quite like all the attention."

"Ego!" called James, and both of them pressed their thumbs to their foreheads in exact synchronisation.

Delia lifted a finger, and Sirius indicated she could speak. "If you weren't such a prat, you and him'd both be sci-fi nerds."

He looked puzzled. "So what's your question?"

"I don't have one; I just thought it had to be said."

"Time lords!" called James, and both of them stroked invisible beards with thoughtful looks poised on their faces before pointing a finger out in front of their faces and shouting 'Exterminate!'

"So this is what happens over summer," Lily remarked, and Sirius grinned.

"Of course. Who's next?"

Delia alerted James to the fact that the veritaserum had only one minute's effect left, and he had been just about to put his hand up and ask the question the whole dare had been constructed for. Then, however, he noticed Remus raise his hand. He'd been seated and silent for the entire thing, but now he had a determined look set on his face, and although the seeker didn't dare to believe it, he thought that just maybe the werewolf might be about to ask the question for himself.

Even Sirius seemed surprised, but a gentle look passed over his face as he said the boy's name. "Remus."

It took a moment to get it out, but he managed, and he wasn't the only one proud, whether or not he was red-faced. "Do you like me or not?"

There was dead silence. Sirius went just a little less red than his friend. "Yes, I do. I do like you. I like you a lot."

After this, the next question was easier. "Then why did you go out with Charlie yesterday?"

"Because I thought you didn't like me anymore. You went out with Beatrice!"

Remus didn't need veritaserum to tell the truth, even in front of the crowd. For once, he just didn't care. They weren't there, not to him. "I was trying to make you jealous so you'd treat me better!"

"You do like me, then?"

"Yes, I'd have thought that was obvious!"

Sirius grinned. "I'm not very observant, Rem."

"I know that." He couldn't stop smiling. This was it; this was life, and the next question would put an end to everything. "Then will you come to Hogsmeade with me?"

Lily couldn't suppress a quiet, "Aw!" Her expression quickly changed along with Sirius'.

He looked genuinely sorry. "Rem… I can't. Not with you."

Part of him wanted to ask another question, just one word – _why_? Most of him just wanted to leave. After a moment's silence, he nodded. "OK." He was suddenly heavily aware of the crowd, and it was all too much. "Alright."

He spun quickly on his heel and ran upstairs amidst James' shouts of, "What are you _doing_? What did you say that for, you twat?"

Unfortunately, Remus was already in his dormitory and too far away to hear when Sirius admitted, "I'm filth compared to him." The crowd groaned collectively.

"No, you're not! You've just spoiled everything for the _second time_!"

Suddenly, Sirius flared up. He was furious with himself and with _everyone_ for thinking he was just suffering from self-pity, and had to lash out with the brutal truth. "I go out with people, I get them drunk, I _fuck_ them and then I get bored! I can't do that to _him_! I _won't_ do that to him!"

Nobody knew what to say, and nobody tried to stop him as he stormed out of the common room.

Everyone tried to go back to normal but the party ended rapidly as the awkwardness spread and people dispersed. James remained behind to help clear away the bottles with Lily, who was quietly crying as she did so.

"Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't know he was going to say that, and I should have in his current state. It's my fault that this happened."

"It's my fault," she asserted. Her voice was quivering, but you wouldn't have known she was crying already if you hadn't already seen the tears. "This was my idea and none of this would have happened if I'd just kept it to myself. I've made a total mess of things."

"No, you haven't. It was a great plan; we just hadn't banked on them playing Talk Tennis while Sirius was still under truth potion."

"Yes, well, I should have thought of that."

"How could you possibly have known?" She didn't have an answer for this. "You couldn't have, so don't blame yourself. If anyone, blame Sirius for being so bloody bad with the words he chooses, and Remus for not standing his ground."

"Oh, it's not their fault." Her tone was softer now; she felt sorry for both of them. He could tell. "It's not their fault I've ruined their lives."

"Steady on. It's not that bad."

"It is to me."

Under normal circumstances, James would never have attempted even patting her on the back, but she was so upset and he couldn't bear to see her that way. He pulled her towards him and enveloped her in his arms in what he hoped was a comforting hug. He rubbed her back gently, hoping that it was going to calm her down rather than irritate her. "Trust me. It really isn't that bad. We can sort it out."

She sniffed and pulled her head back from where she had been crying onto him. "Oh, God, I've gotten mascara on your Quidditch robes."

"Don't worry about it. Bit of elbow grease, you'll get it out in no time."

"Cheeky," she said, and smiled at him, wiping her eyes. "But you're lovely to me, James."

Her mascara was smudged around her eyes, her tears had left trails where they'd washed away the blusher and she was still a little bit sniffly.

He'd never loved her more.


	15. Can You Make It Better?

The out-of-time music will probably continue in this chapter, and I know I'm pointing out faults here that many people probably wouldn't otherwise notice or care about, but I don't want people who do to think I'm being deceptive.

**Paranoia, paranoia.**

**(If you fancy hearing that like it sounded in my head, sing it to that Twilight Zone thing. Doo-doo doo-doo, doo-doo doo-doo.)**

**I'll just get on with it; and be warned that you're about to experience first-hand the extent of Sirius' slaggishness.**

**Oh, and by the way – it's only Luna because that sounds like lunar. Nothing to do with the Lovegoods, and you might even know what I'm blabbering about in a minute if you're lucky. Sorry!**

And as for the line 'Manners; a subject at which you are likely to fail!'… thanks, sir. You too!

Chapter Fifteen

There was a new barmaid at the Hog's Head when Sirius arrived, and she uncertainly refused to serve him as he was underage. This didn't improve his mood, and he didn't feel much better when her supervisor informed her that he was a regular even if he _was_ a year under and apologised to him profusely. All he wanted was another drink.

Guilt restricted him to two, and even though they were relatively strong ones he was able to keep himself together. This irritated him in itself; why should he hold back with his alcohol just because he knew it would displease Remus? James, too, he supposed – but why was he following this pattern of what they wanted? Still, he stuck to butterbeer after the second glass.

Why was he so bad at getting his meaning across? This, surely, was it for him. He certainly wasn't a cat, but he felt like he'd used up his nine lives anyway. He didn't have a snowball's chance in hell with Remus anymore.

He must have been staring into space because the inexperienced barmaid leant over the bar and began to speak to him. "Sorry about before. You can imagine what it'd be like if all forms of immaturity could trek through the door."

He nodded, unwilling to properly commit to an acceptance of her apology. "How are you finding the job on the whole?"

"It's alright. We've had a couple of funny ones in, but I suppose that's the same everywhere. I'm lucky to have been employed here." He gave her a questioning look as he sipped his butterbeer. She grinned. "I'm only nineteen, you see. You're supposed to be twenty-one before you can serve."

"Nineteen." He repeated, in thought. He raised one eyebrow, but not high enough to make it comical. "What's your name?"

"Jessica Second. Just Jess, if you want."

"Jess," he confirmed.

"What about you?"

"I'm Sirius; but anything you like." He leaned in a little closer, and she mirrored him. It was working already; God, she was easy. "What do you like to do in your spare time, then, Miss Second?"

It had to be an hour at most before they stumbled into one of the spare rooms at the Hog's Head, hands clutched together and her lipstick already smudged. Not a second after the door had closed was Sirius' shirt already on the floor and being stepped on, slipped on.

They fell straight onto the bed as one and lips didn't seem to part; if they did, they only fell onto another bared patch of skin. The way they both moved was almost accidental but of course it wasn't – at least not on Sirius' part. Everything he did was planned carefully and helped to form his image.

She'd never been involved with anyone younger than her before, but then again Sirius didn't feel like he was two years younger anyway. He was seventeen going on twenty-five, and she was willing to bet that he had far more experience than she did. This didn't worry her. The way he was treating her, it was clear that he thought she was something special. He'd even given her a nickname, which she assumed had something to do with what she'd told him about her middle name being Luna. Moony, was it? He'd whispered it to her as he'd paused inbetween kisses.

How hadn't she seen that he was so mature when she'd refused to serve him before? He was clearly far more man than boy, and she was going to stay with him until they were forced apart; and if that meant forever, then so be it.

---

He never liked getting up early, especially when he knew he'd have to be quiet. It was all dark, and he hadn't been able to curse at the top of his lungs when he'd stubbed his toe on the bedside table. She might have woken up if he had.

Jessica Second. Second, Jess. Second best. He looked at her as he pulled on his socks from the chair. She had mahogany hair cut into a little bob, sea-blue eyes – not that he could tell, seeing as they were currently closed – and, if he was honest, practically no boobs.

They'd looked a little bigger clothed. Could have been the lack of light at the bar or anything. Well, that meant nothing. They just weren't _there_. He supposed that had been a contributing factor to what he was regarding as a simple slip of the tongue, seeing as who he'd mistaken her for _certainly_ didn't have any. She hadn't minded, anyway; he wasn't sure she'd even noticed.

As he pulled his t-shirt on, he was finally grateful he'd been sick on his Quidditch robes. He couldn't imagine the embarrassment of having to walk through Hogsmeade wearing them, even if it was so early that barely anybody would be around.

He shut the door as quietly as possible behind him, but thought he heard her stir. Just in case, he left as quickly as possible and through the back door so that she couldn't shout at him through her window.

She'd probably lose her job for this, thinking about it. Shagging the punters wasn't generally allowed. Oh, well. She'd done it by choice, hadn't she? It wasn't like he'd led her down the garden path.

Jessica Second. He hadn't liked her, anyway.

---

The fact that Sirius hadn't returned all night had kept Remus awake. He might have gotten so drunk he'd fallen asleep in the street or anything, and he didn't dare to go and look. The boy would probably hate him for it.

It might have been half six when there were loud footsteps on the stairs along with two angry raised whispers. Remus sat up in bed. Was this him? Seconds later, the door was forced open and a very livid-looking James frog-marched his friend inside. "Get into bed and get some proper sleep." He pulled a pair of girls' underwear out of Sirius' trousers and threw them on the floor. "And I don't know who these belong to but you've just walked all the way back with them sticking out of your arse pocket."

It was then that he noticed Remus sitting up in the dark.

"Remus, I'm sorry. Did we wake you up?"

He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. "Are you kidding? Look at the bags under his eyes; he's slept less than I have." Sirius cleverly removed 'poor thing' from the end of the sentence that had originally sprung to mind.

There were times to lie, but Remus quickly stumbled across the notion that right now there simply wouldn't be a point. "Well, you didn't deem it necessary to come back, did you? I was worried." A moment of silence ensued. The werewolf decided that he was entitled to fill it with his thoughts. He fixed his gaze on the underwear. "I was right to be, it seems. Look, can you just be honest with me, for once?"

Sirius looked at his feet, mustering an excuse. "Didn't mean anything."

"I'm forced to disagree with you. I think it meant a lot."

"It's certainly cement for what you said last night." James pointed out, giving Sirius a chance to realise what the other boy meant and explain what had gone wrong.

Thankfully, he took the hint. "That… that was my fault. It came out wrong when I said it and I didn't have a chance to make it clear."

Suddenly, Remus felt full of dry humour. "Why, had you wanted to make it even more obvious that you'd rather not go anywhere with me, thanks very much?"

"You know that's not what I mean."

He gave a short laugh. "I never know what you _mean_, Sirius."

"Does _Sirius_?" James intervened, seeing that this argument of sorts could be the end of everything if left to its own devices. "I think what he's trying to say is that you didn't stay long enough for him to explain."

Sirius nodded fervently. "All I meant was that you're too innocent for me."

"Ah, so it's about _sex_; it's because you think I'm too much of a good boy to do anything you'd consider worthwhile. I should have known."

The chaser shook his head, furious with himself yet again. "No, no, not at all. That came out wrong, too. Let me finish and you'll see." Remus nodded diplomatically, and he continued. "What I mean is, you're very sweet and I'm just… not. Like chalk and cheese."

"Not your type, then?"

"No!" Sirius shouted, and Peter muttered that he'd like everyone to be quiet. "I just don't want to hurt you, alright?"

There was another silence, and James couldn't help but feel that this was one of those moments at which Lily would want to say 'Aw'.

Remus coughed. "Oh." He felt incredibly guilty. He'd been very biting to Sirius about this over the past minute or so, just because he'd misunderstood. "Well, er, that's very noble of you."

"Er, thanks."

James had never been more awkward in his life.

"Sorry for saying… all that."

"'s alright. You don't mean it anymore."

"No, I don't."

If he didn't get out now, the head boy knew that he'd never have the chance, so he cleared his throat. "I'm going to check on Lily. See you at breakfast."

They waited until he'd gone down the stairs. "You want to get some sleep, then?"

"Yes, yes; good ideas, as always. You too. Fancy waiting up for me all night."

They both laughed nervously, and Sirius sat down on his bed. They faced each other, and neither really knew what to say following that. Thankfully, there was no need for words, because in one fluid motion, they leaned forward at the same time and pressed their lips together desperately for what felt like the first time.

---

It was nearly seven when James got back to his and Lily's bedroom, so Lily was about to drift awake anyway when the sound of the door creaking did it for her.

"James?" She yawned, and sat up, pulling the covers around her to protect against the cold. "Where have you been?"

"Got word from Sirius that he couldn't get back into Hogwarts; I had to go and open the passage for him."

Her eyes widened. "Where'd _he_ been?"

"For a drink, and then a shag. Goodness knows who; and I say that literally, because Sirius probably doesn't."

"Poor you, having to get out of bed."

"Nah, it's alright. He'd do the same for me – not that I'd do what he's done, mind." Then he remembered how unfoundedly guilty Lily had felt last night. How could he have forgotten? He could ease that guilt now. "Some good news, mind – I think he's made up with Remus."

She smiled. "That's nice. I felt dreadful last night."

"I know, and it was silly because it wasn't your fault."

"Oh, so you keep saying, but it was and I refuse to accept otherwise." She couldn't maintain her icy act for very long, as he was smiling at her in such a way that thawed it out. "Believe what you want, though."

"I will; believe me." There was a comfortable pause, and then James spoke again. "We've got that exams talk this morning."

Lily rolled her eyes. "For goodness' sake. Everyone who wants to revise is already doing it, and the others just won't. It's so pointless."

The boy grinned. "Ah, you're just saying that because you'd rather spend the time alone with me."

"Don't start, you."

"I'm not!" He sat down on her bed and sighed, then realised that this was probably a rather awkward move. He stood up again within seconds. "I'll go and wait for you in the lounge, then."

What he had referred to as the lounge was really the head dormitory's common room, but they had both given it this adopted name and now didn't call it anything else.

As soon as he closed the door with a sheepish smile, she broke out into one of her own. How hadn't she seen this side of him all these years? She began getting dressed, glad of the knowledge that down in the lounge, James was waiting to walk her to breakfast.

---

"The exams which you are about to undertake can, and will, form the foundation of your very lives." McGonagall paused gravely to increase the effect of her words, unaware that most of her audience – and especially the far end of the Gryffindor table – were sitting comatose and wishing they'd caught some highly contagious disease earlier in the week. "Therefore all your Professors and I have deemed it necessary to assist you as you walk along the pathway to realising the seriousness of these qualifications. You will receive no others."

"I'll receive none at all if I kill myself now." Sirius muttered as she began talking about specific lessons, and Remus smiled, but didn't break his gaze from McGonagall. Somehow, Sirius found this rather arousing and having chosen the seat to Remus' left was able to lean forward and kiss the back of his neck in a display of affection a little extended from a mere peck.

Remus jumped with the shock, and whispered in a chastising tone; but delivered it through a smile he just couldn't wipe away. "Sirius!"

Tilting his eyes towards the source of his friend's embarrassment, James rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Sirius. Give it a rest."

Unfortunately for James, this last sentence was one that Professor McGonagall did not miss. "Manners, Mr. Potter – a subject at which I fear you would fail miserably."

"Sorry, Professor. I was just informing Sirius of something that he didn't understand when you said it," said James in what he felt was a clear display of how wrong she was. Everyone around him was grinning through his manufactured sincerity, but bravely he managed to hold onto his expression.

McGonagall sighed, used to this. "Would you care to explain what you said to Mr. Black to the rest of us?"

Noticing Sirius' hand resting nonchalantly on the table in a 't' shape, he realised that his friend was trying to bail him out of trouble by telling him that the subject she'd been speaking about was Transfiguration. He tilted his head forward slightly and blinked, which was their subtle way of thanking each other. He could probably blunder his way through an answer from here. "I was telling him how many Transfiguration lessons we have per fortnight."

He saw Sirius wince; this had to be a wrong answer. McGonagall didn't explode yet – but he could see her nostrils flaring, which was still scary after seven years. "What exactly does this have to do with what I was talking about, Mr. Potter?"

James quickly directed his eyes towards Sirius, who he was still relying on for help. The boy was rubbing his index finger along his thumb between the knuckle and the joint. This was the symbol for 'revision'. A connection was made in James' mind, and he spoke. This process, as intended, took approximately three seconds. "Well, me and Sirius have this theory that the amount of hours you spend revising a subject should be in ratio with the amount of lessons you spend studying it."

The fact that this was so quick off the mark and spoken without the bat of an eyelid didn't remove McGonagall's suspicion, but she had no grounds on which to punish him. She couldn't possibly prove that he hadn't been listening.

Professor Ford stepped forward, a frown adorning his handsome young features. A light Scottish accent decorated his voice. "What ratio?" He'd never liked James. James liked to think that this was because he was a better flier than him, but in reality it was down to the boy's arrogant attitude towards the lessons in his earlier years.

Amateurs might have replied with 'What?', 'Sorry?' or 'Pardon?' to buy themselves time to structure a reply, but James didn't need time. "We've still got to decide on that, sir. We don't know how many spare hours we're going to get to revise in yet."

Even Professor Ford couldn't argue with this, and stepped back. Charlie and Delia relaxed back into their chairs, sharing smiles.

"What we really wanted to get you all together for was not to discuss revision with you." McGonagall said, continuing with the speech despite having realised that there was a general disinterest. She strongly believed that the next statement would win back their attention, however. "This session was called to announce to the entire year at once that all lessons on Saturdays and Sundays are hereby cancelled in order to clear the way for your revision."

She clearly didn't agree with this decision, and kept tight-lipped as the students celebrated their new-found freedom with each other. Sirius and James were high-fiving everyone in sight, though Lily noticed that only the head boy made an effort to include Peter in this; his best friend appeared to be actively avoiding clapping hands with the smallest marauder.

Lily also noticed that Remus was playing with his lip a lot, which according to a muggle psychology book she owned meant that he was thinking about kissing somebody. She didn't doubt this.

Once the noise levels had fallen a little, McGonagall began speaking again, and as she had predicted, she held her audience more captive than before. "You are expected to use this time to your advantage; however, Professor Dumbledore wishes for me to tell you that if you decide to use this time to… remove stress from your lifestyle, then he supports your decision."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh aloud at the disdain she clearly held for this statement, which earned him a fierce glance. This alone would not have silenced him, but Remus put a finger over his lips so he decided to do as was expected for once.

"The rebel tamed," James said, though quietly so only they could hear. Both Sirius and Remus appeared to relish in this statement.

"After receiving talks from your Professors for each subject, there will be a short period for asking questions and then you may have the rest of the morning – and indeed, the day – to yourselves. You will be expected to listen quietly through all subjects regardless of whether or not you are studying them. All courses save one will be covered; and Professor Slight would like to speak to Mr. Snape and Mr. Black after the rest of the students have been dismissed about this."

This caused more unrest than anything else that she had said earlier in the talk. Sirius looked like he'd like to either vomit some more or hit somebody; Snape, probably.

"What's this, Sirius? Does she mean you?" James asked. He couldn't help but feel a bit hurt that he hadn't been told about this. He'd never kept a thing from Sirius… well, alright, one thing – but disliking like the Sex Pistols didn't count. Remus, too, looked interested, but didn't seem too bothered by the fact that he hadn't been told about it. Lily decided this was probably because he didn't hear half of Sirius' secrets, anyway.

The boy in question didn't answer his friend's question straight away. "_Snape's_ doing it as well?"

"Snape's doing what?"

Sirius looked deeply reluctant to reply, but did so. "Leglimency. I've been taking lessons in it since last May."

"You've been learning how to _read minds_?" Charlie asked, a blank expression on her face. She blushed slightly, as if thinking of what he might have read from her.

He shook his head, just as embarrassed as she was. "No, no, it's not really like that. I mean, in the sense of things, yes, but… no. It's more of a glimpse into the thoughts and memories."

Nobody said anything for about five seconds.

"Do you need a wand to do it?" Lily finally asked, allowing the enquiring side of her mind to get the better of her.

"Er, sometimes. Depends on what you want to do."

"Theoretically, if I thought of a colour, would you be able to tell me which colour?" Peter asked, deep in thought. This, it had to be said, was rare.

"Green," said Sirius bluntly, "and before you ask, Peter, that was nothing to do with leglimency. That's just looking at the colour of Rachel's top."

Both the aforementioned blushed.

Remus looked very impressed, which Sirius was proud to notice. Maybe them all knowing about this wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"What's Severus thinking about?" James asked, clearly having censored the way he had addressed the Slytherin. He had expected Lily to dislike this idea but had been unwilling to squash his curiosity. Surprisingly, however, she was just as interested.

"Yes," she said, looking at a portrait of Sir Terence the Twee absent-mindedly.

Sirius took this as permission, and closed his eyes to concentrate. This might have looked like a cliché, but he didn't care. He would be unable to focus with Remus sitting by his side.

_I don't think so, Black_.

He opened his eyes to receive a filthy look from Snape. "Won't let me in," he informed everyone else, and then remembered something aloud. "I suppose if he's been studying it as well, he'll have done occlumency."

This was another language to everybody except Remus. "That's helpful, studying both at once. Is it difficult?"

"Only when you start. After that it's just another thing."

"Is leglimency itself difficult?"

"Grasping it initially is – like I say, after you've covered the basics you just improve with practice. I'm not going to pretend I'm amazing at it."

"Will you teach me?" the werewolf asked shyly, tilting his head down and then up again. For once, this was a deliberate tactic to make his hair fall over his eyes. He had an idea as to what Sirius' reaction would be, and was totally correct in his prediction.

The darker-haired marauder lifted a hand and gently brushed the hair out of his face, tucking it behind the boy's ears. "If you like."

Delia clicked her fingers. They both jumped. She waved at them both.

"What?"

"Just letting you know that we're all still here in case you felt like gazing into somebody else's eyes for a bit."

Remus turned pink, but Sirius only grinned and draped his arm around the back of the prefect's chair. "Nah, we're alright."

There was no time for any more talking, however, as McGonagall called for silence and introduced the first speaker – Professor Slughorn. Getting everything wrong, he introduced his speech with, "I know that Potions is an enjoyable subject for those who have selected it…"

Nobody listened from this point onwards.

---

After what felt like a lifetime – and what actually _was_ a lifetime for various breeds of Arctic pixies, Lily informed them – everybody minus Sirius traipsed outside to sit in their favourite spot in the grounds. Even before Lily had stopped detesting James with every fibre of her being, both the marauders and Lily, Charlie and Delia had spent their spare time on warm days here. The girls had found it when walking around aimlessly late in their first year, and had spent perhaps a fortnight there alone before the boys followed them out there. It was the ideal spot for sitting in – it was right by a spot of the lake which wasn't too deep to swim in or too shallow to dip your feet in, and not only was it quite removed from the rest of the inhabitable grounds, there was a large oak tree nearby which offered shade.

Now, nothing had changed save for the two new additions to the party – Rachel and Beatrice, and it was certain to be even more enjoyable now that the two groups actively mixed with each other.

"I wonder if they magically control the weather here. It's not even February yet, and look how wonderful a day it is!"

"Oh, Remus, don't question it or it'll stop." Delia grinned at him, but found herself forgotten as a certain tall, dark-haired chaser sauntered over and dropped onto his side next to the boy she'd been speaking to.

She knew she couldn't compete, but she didn't mind. She'd just had an idea to help Beatrice, and called her over, whispering in her ear amidst giggles every now and again.

"Hello, mister." Sirius grinned.

"Hello," Remus replied, obviously far more abashed than his – well, his boyfriend, he supposed. Wow. That was strange, thinking of him that way. He'd never been in a proper relationship before.

He must have looked deep in concentration or upset, because he found himself looking back up into Sirius' face as the boy tilted his chin up gently with a hand. "Ah, cheer up. We're not in the exams talk any more, you know."

This merited a smile, which was happily returned. Sirius leaned forward to plant a kiss on the other boy's lips, but the werewolf pulled away. "Sirius, honestly! In _front_ of everyone?"

"Yeah, why not?" The chaser was amused by the sandy-haired boy's reluctance to be affectionate in front of other people. He'd never had a problem with it.

Remus squirmed, but in a good way. "Well, it's private, isn't it?"

Sirius grinned, entertained by a mental image that had strolled into his mind. "No, not unless you get too… er, _into_ it. If you catch my drift."

After a moment's pause, Remus did catch his drift, and blushed profusely. This made his companion start laughing, and attracted a confused glance from James.

"Could always pretend it was your wand stuck in your pocket, I suppose." This was deliberately intended to make the boy blush even worse, and it worked. Of course, it also had the effect of making Sirius laugh harder after he'd delivered the line and gotten the reaction he'd wanted. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. That won't happen." His facial expression became tenderer, and he dropped the grin in favour of a gentle smile. "Come here."

Despite his mild embarrassment, Remus needed no more persuasion to lean forward and accept Sirius' kiss. After only a couple of seconds, he'd lost himself and his surroundings almost completely. Apart from both their lips, all he could feel was his elbow supporting him as he leaned on his side and the warm sun beating down onto the skin that was bared. It was heaven.

Did it rain in heaven? He opened his eyes and pulled away from Sirius as he heard girls' laughter. Charlie had scooped up a handful of water from the lake in her hand and thrown it at the couple.

Sirius shook his hair to rid it of the offending liquid, and stood up to get his own back. It seemed that even though they were getting a little closer, there was still a long way to go before the boy would like Remus as much as Remus liked him. He laughed as he dodged Delia and flung some water over her.

"It wasn't even me!" she complained, but grabbed a handful herself and returned the favour. Soon the air was filled with the girls' squeals and the boys' laughter. Remus had decided to sit it out for now with Rachel, but apart from them, everyone – including Peter – had joined in with this water fight.

Ever trying to ensure that everybody else was happy, Lily approached them both before long. "Don't you both want to join in?"

Rachel shook her head, completely certain. She knew she wasn't confident enough to play properly and would just end up getting soaked without throwing any water herself. "I'm OK, thank you." The werewolf followed suit.

"I'll sit this out, thanks, Lily."

However, he'd barely finished his sentence when a charmed stream of water from Beatrice zoomed straight past her intended target of James and landed on Remus, getting a most unfortunate area of his trousers wet. James turned around and started laughing, but Sirius called over. "Come on, Remus, you're not going to take that sort of abuse, are you?"

He'd never quite been able to refuse Sirius – not even in second year when they'd gotten a detention for trying to get into the Room of Requirement at midnight. "Alright." He stood up, and taking off his black robe to reveal a light blue shirt and pair of stormy-coloured jeans. Slightly aware that everyone was watching, he pulled out his wand and aimed it at Beatrice, who didn't seem to mind getting wet for the sake of getting him involved. "Aguamenti!"

It hit her on the arm. He pretended he'd missed, but that was his target. The main fight resumed. After being hit by Charlie, Remus ducked his way toward Rachel. "It's fun. Are you sure you don't want to play?"

"I don't think I'd be very good."

"That's alright; have you seen the state of Sirius?"

They both looked together, and sure enough, he looked as if a bucket of water had been tipped on top of him; and for once, it seemed like he didn't care. The fact that Sirius was just a popular target rather than bad at the game was irrelevant. She smiled, nodding her consent, and he offered a hand to pull her up. "Please don't let me get too wet, though."

Simply the effort of her saying this to someone she so clearly still had a crush on sent her pink, but Remus didn't notice. "I'll try my best."

All of a sudden, however, he fell victim to Bea; literally _fell _out into the lake as she pushed him.

This would have been funny if he could swim.

She realised she'd done something wrong when everyone rushed to the edge of the lake – but only Sirius jumped in. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"He can't swim." Lily replied, frantic but trying very hard not to make Bea feel guilty. She couldn't have known. It wasn't her fault. Of course, the girl felt responsible anyway, and bit her lip as Sirius emerged carrying the sandy-haired boy in his arms, wading towards the shallows where Remus would be able to stand.

"Remus, I'm really sorry!" she called.

He smiled, good-natured as always. "That's alright. I was too hot, anyway."

"I'll say." Sirius said in a low voice into his ear so that only he could hear as Charlie and Delia both pulled each other into the lake at the same time. He moved back slightly to admire the looks of the boy he'd saved. "You're going to freeze."

"You're wet, too," Remus pointed out, but Sirius flapped a hand and moved closer to him.

"I'll be fine."

It was probably just an excuse for a hug, but Remus honestly didn't care as the others jumped, yelling, into the cool murky water.


	16. Can You Take It All Off?

I can't believe this story is so far on; I really can't. I know I say that every chapter now, but… you know.

**Apologies for the appalling French. Blame Sirius, not me.**

**Also, I rather dislike writing with dialect, so just imagine the French accents, please.**

**Chapter Sixteen**

Life, for the next week or so, was rosy. Sirius was playing faithful – well, except with his eyes, of course – and James and Lily's second 'Thanks For Not Killing Severus' date passed without incident. In fact, Remus thought as he drifted properly awake one Saturday morning, everything was so _right_ that it was raining outside and he didn't care.

To a cynic like him, that meant that right around now, something was bound to go catastrophically wrong.

He turned away from the window to face his right-hand side. It was a small bed, but by taking up as little room as possible, there was just enough space for Sirius. If anyone had looked in, they'd have assumed they were… well, they'd have assumed that they'd done something they hadn't. As much as Sirius would have liked to, however, Remus hadn't allowed it; not yet. It wouldn't be the chaser's first time, not by a long shot, but it would certainly be Remus', and he didn't want to throw that away so quickly.

They'd taken to sleeping together, though, in the literal sense of the phrase. Even though the full moon was drawing nearer and nearer, Remus had to admit he found it easy to sleep wrapped up in Sirius' arms, despite the obscenities and nonsense words the boy muttered when only semi-conscious.

Peter could barely stand their closeness, but that was his problem. It was their genders that bothered him.

The werewolf was undecided whether it was leglimency or experience that told Sirius that someone was watching him, but it seemed that every time Remus looked at his sleeping form for more than ten seconds, his eyes would flicker open and he'd tease him about it.

Sometimes he wondered whether Sirius was really awake all along. Sometimes he wondered if _he_ was awake at all. Most of the time, he didn't care.

Possibly proving Remus' theory about exactly how asleep he was, Sirius' first words were, "You know it's ten to nine, don't you?"

"It's a Saturday. We don't have any lessons on weekends any more."

"That's not really what I was thinking. Time's running out, you see."

He knew that Sirius was probably just trying to tease him, but the werewolf couldn't help but begin to panic a bit. "Running out?"

"Yes." The dark-haired boy's face was sombre. He sat up from underneath the thin red sheets, chest bared to the cold morning air. "I mean, by my reckoning, you've only got two hours and fifty minutes to kiss me good morning before it's a kiss good afternoon."

Remus groaned, flopping back down onto his pillow but kept his eyes hungrily on Sirius. "You had me going, there."

"And I always will." The chaser moved his arm to the boy's other side and transferred his weight to his elbows. He combed his hair back with his fingers to prevent it from tickling poor Remus who it was long enough to reach, and leant forward – resting purely on his forearms – to take the kiss he'd been asking for.

It lasted for about twenty seconds when the boy on top pulled away in shock. He looked down at his boyfriend, whose eyes were as wide as his felt. "Oh, _shit_."

"You've just remembered we had to be down for breakfast on time this morning, haven't you?"

Sirius nodded, and a moment of calmness ensued before they both scrambled out of bed. Remus went straight to his trunk, speedily picking clean clothes from the top of each organised pile. The other boy, however, had the sheets held haphazardly across the front of his lower half just in case McGonagall came in to see where they were whilst he searched frantically for yesterday's underwear on the floor.

"You will insist," Remus commented as he pulled out two shirts, deciding which one to wear, "on taking them off."

"Well, I've always slept naked and I'm not about to change that."

"Yes, yes." Remus flapped a spare hand at him. "Shouldn't you really be looking for a clean pair, though?"

Sirius stood up to look at him, and then the point dawned on him. He grinned. "Maybe, yeah."

"I suppose you're used to waking up with other people and having no supply of fresh underwear, are you?" He said it so seriously that the chaser had to stop, face covered in concern, and see if the other boy was alright.

He relaxed when he saw the smile, and spoke in a rare moment of affection. "You shouldn't say things like that, you know. I'm always worrying I've upset you."

Remus shook his head, rolling his eyes, but this was only an attempt to disguise the blush that had crept across his cheeks. "Right, I'm going to get changed. Don't wait for the bathroom; once you've found your clothes put them on and go straight down."

"Yes, Professor."

"You'd better believe it," Remus said, a smile adorning his face as he turned to enter the bathroom.

A week ago, Sirius might have tried to persuade the werewolf to get changed in the dormitory, in front of him, but he knew now that that just wasn't about to happen. He'd known that Remus was new to all this, but he hadn't fathomed the extent to which he'd shrunk into his shell whilst everyone else was having a good time snogging each other.

Alright, he hadn't expected Remus to want to go all the way, straight away. The fact remained, however, that even though he never had before, he'd started wearing pyjamas to bed as soon as he and Sirius had gotten properly involved – and that was before they'd started sharing a bed. Unless the only people around were his close friends, he wouldn't allow his hand to be held, let alone be kissed or embraced.

This, it had to be said, made a change from the way it usually was with the people he went out with. Often, they clung to him like leeches, and that was irritating. He frequently reminded himself of this, and was grateful to finally have a boyfriend that didn't want to constantly latch himself onto his face.

Obviously, a large part of him craved the affection he so loved, but he was confident that before too long, Remus would relax and become more comfortable with the whole business.

He'd just managed to sculpt his hair into place when the boy emerged from the bathroom all ready to go. He dragged his eyes up and down the werewolf's light frame fondly. "Can't we just stay here?"

As he said it, he was already walking towards the door, though. He'd like to think that he had Remus wrapped around his little finger, but really – evidently – it was the other way around.

---

The way Sirius and Remus came into the hall at two separate intervals – the werewolf first – as though they hadn't been together the whole time amused James endlessly. He grinned at the both of them as Sirius took his seat, greeting the sandy-haired boy as if he hadn't seen him all morning. "You're a right pair, you two."

"What?" Remus said. To professors, he was usually quite a convincing liar because he could keep calm, but he could never be dishonest with his friends. Even though he hadn't had to say anything untrue yet, it was clear from his voice that he was about to if he was correct about what James was going to say next.

Sirius jumped in to prevent him from having to do so. "Come on, James, let's not make anything out of it."

His tone was only ever so slightly above begging, but that didn't matter to James. If Sirius wanted him to stop, then he would. "You haven't missed anything, don't worry."

"Apart from the dancing monkeys," said Beatrice, but all she got was a strange look from Sirius – for whom it was too early for sarcasm – as a silence descended on the hall. Professor Dumbledore had stood up and taken his place at the podium, and was about to announce what they had all been gathered for so early.

He adjusted his glasses, and began to speak. "You are all probably wondering why this meeting of all students and staff has been arranged, and why specifically at such an early hour. The first question will have to wait, I am afraid – but the second I will answer for you now." He paused. "I am rather fond of early mornings, and feel at my most sprightly at this time of the day. Seeing as we are a school and should be encouraging punctuality and good time-keeping, I deem that a good enough reason to force you all to arise at this seemly time."

Even some of the professors looked like they were wondering whether it would probably have been a better idea to stay in bed.

"And now, the reason why we are all together at such an hour." Sirius visibly sat up in his chair. "I wanted to announce to you all at the same time that next week, we will be playing host to a group of seventh-year Beauxbatons students who wish to improve their English-speaking skills. They will be studying with us for a month, and will be housed in the seventh-year dormitories. I ask that you show them all hospitality and friendship during their stay. That will be all."

Extremely pleased at the wave of interest that was flowing over the students, Dumbledore returned to his seat with a twinkle in his eye.

"Frenchies!" Sirius grinned. "Fantastique! Wonder what they'll be like."

"You wonder what they'll _look_ like, you mean." Charlie said. "There's no shame in that. I'm thinking tall, dark and handsome."

"If you like me, you just have to say so." Sirius replied, joking, totally oblivious to the harsh reality of his statement. He flashed a smile at Remus and remembered something. "Hey, Rem, you speak French. La tension sexuelle, oui?"

Remus laughed through his reply. "Oui, Sirius. Oui."

"J'ai une lesbienne fantasme…" Sirius began, but was hushed.

"That'll do, thanks, Sirius."

"I'm quite enjoying his French, actually." Beatrice said. "Sirius, quelle âge as tu?"

"J'aime le boissons alcoolisées. Je suis un déviants. Je voudrais une préservatif, sil vous plait."

Both Remus and Beatrice started laughing, whilst the others looked very confused. Lily asked the question they were all thinking. "What's he saying?"

"Yes, what am I saying?"

"You like alcoholic drinks, you're a deviant and you'd like a condom, please."

"And what did you ask me?"

"I asked how old you were."

He laughed. "Well, I'm over eighteen by those answers, that's for sure."

Professor McGonagall swept up behind him from positively nowhere. "Do try and refrain from speaking so crudely in front of our French guests, Mr. Black."

Sirius gave a sad look. "Profeseur," he began, pouting slightly, "j'ai boules démange."

---

An hour later, the chaser found himself sitting in Professor McGonagall's classroom writing out the line 'I will not speak French if I have no idea what I am saying, especially if there is a chance that what I am saying is that my testicles are itching' with only the scratching noise of the quill and the occasional laugh that he couldn't resist to accompany him.

That time, thanks to a drunken game of poker with a couple of French friends who thankfully spoke rather good English, he'd known what he was saying, but it had been worth it.

As he finished his fiftieth and final line, he stretched and grinned, wondering what Remus would make of him if he walked into the common room suddenly able to speak perfect French. He could see it now. He'd walk in, pull the book that he'd inevitably be reading from his hands and greet him in the tongue he so loved; and then _give_ him a bit of tongue, obviously. The werewolf would ask a few questions, curious about how his boyfriend had procured the language in a matter of hours, but it would be thirty minutes tops before the language of love worked its magic and then they'd go upstairs to the dormitory and there'd be lots of _sex_, finally.

Well, alright, that wouldn't happen even if the French thing did. Maybe in a couple of weeks. He could wait; just.

He was snapped from his daydream as he absent-mindedly kicked the table leg and spilt his ink on the floor. A quick spell was all it took to clear it up, but the daydream was lost. He knew he'd never speak French, not really.

Shame, really. At least he could speak English to a reasonable standard – startlingly, even when drunk, which he'd proven when he'd holidayed in France with his blood relatives. He'd met a couple of like-minded boys and they'd had a couple of firewhiskies too many, which suited them all just fine. That was where he'd learnt his French – not that he'd known what most of it meant until today.

He'd picked up the more romantic phrases – as he'd said before, cherub was a useful word, and useful too were _beautiful_, _angel_, _yes_, _I'm_, and _single_. He wondered briefly how much use they'd be when the 'Frenchies' turned up, but these thoughts were replaced by a mental image. One smile, lots of pretty white teeth on porcelain skin, burning amber eyes and sandy, floppy hair.

_Ahh, l'amour._

---

It was still raining a week later when the Beauxbatons students arrived on that fateful Saturday in February. Their entrance was a lot less flamboyant than Sirius had expected; in fact, they'd just flooed all the way from their own school on a special network the Ministry had set up for the day. None of the Hogwarts students caught so much as a glimpse of them until dinner that evening, as hard as they'd tried throughout the day.

They were all sitting on a bench at the front of the hall, and some of their faces could only just be glimpsed. A lot of them looked embarrassed to be sitting in everyone's full view, but one boy was sitting totally comfortably, his head tipped back slightly, and he was leaning against the table. His light brown hair was light and fluffy, and totally natural – or at least _looked_ totally natural. His mouth was arranged into that excellent balance of being between a friendly smile and a superior smirk; much like how Sirius wore his face when he was being seductive.

Lots of the girls were making comments about him, and Sirius was about to get more than a little bit territorial when there came a jolt in his stomach.

Auguste…

"Hey, Jimmy." He elbowed James in the ribs, desperate to get his friend's attention. "Hey, Jimmy, it's Auguste."

"Ouch! Who?"

"You know. _Auguste_."

James' confusion was increasing by the minute, but this, his dark-haired best friend thought, would easily be solved. He sat up a bit straighter and with a wide grin on his face, cupped a hand over his mouth. "Oi, poser."

The boy turned with a smile on his face. He'd recognised the voice straight away, and replied in a thick French accent. "Who are you calling poser, _doll-face_?"

Sirius laughed. "Oh, as if you remember that, you fatty. That was years ago! Get your arse down here, then."

"_Oui_." McGonagall didn't look best pleased, but Auguste stood up, and got six of his friends to come with him.

Charlie's face went a little redder, and Delia prodded her in the arm, muttering her warning under her breath so that only her sister could hear. "Charlie, don't. He's just a French version of Sirius."

"Maybe," the dark-haired twin replied, but bore her sister's advice in mind as the French boy walked over with the rest.

Directly beside Auguste was a boy with white-blonde hair, slightly shorter than him in stature. His hair was whipped up with wax into a small fringe and short spikes reaching for the sky in different directions. His face was quite long but the features upon it were spaced out well enough for it to look natural – and, Sirius allowed himself to think, quite attractive. Holding his hand was an equally good-looking black-haired girl, and despite her boyfriend and Auguste's confidence, she looked incredibly self-conscious, her blue-eyed gaze tilted towards the floor. She was standing a little behind the boys in a defensive gesture, but was clearly the decent sort as she'd smiled at a wave from Lily.

Sirius was about to wonder whether the whole of France was gorgeous when he saw that behind her were two boys, the first of which had dusky red hair and a light sprinkling of freckles. Unfortunately, he had quite an up-turned nose and this spoiled his face. It didn't seem to matter, though. He had a wide grin and a sparkly expression, which suggested he'd be a lot of fun. The second was a dark brunette and had a pout on him that could challenge Sirius'. He looked quite moody, and Sirius guessed that he hadn't wanted to come to Hogwarts, but had done so because all of his friends had.

Finally, there were two girls with linked arms, whispering to each other. From what he could deduce, they were probably talking about boys they'd seen, as they were looking at certain people as they spoke. Both were blonde, but the taller girl's hair was hanging straight and was bob-cut whereas her friend's was long and hung in ringlets.

As they all arrived at the Gryffindor table, Remus conjured up chairs for them all but found one of them to be obsolete as the raven-haired girl took a seat on her boyfriend's lap. Auguste introduced them all one by one. First he indicated his blonde best friend, who sat to his right. "This is Oscar Laroche, and with him Silvine Pierre." Oscar gave a little wave and a grin. Silvine was still quite embarrassed, but managed a smile. Next, he moved his hand to indicate the redhead. "This is Jerome Prideaux, and Bastien Chevalier." He smiled at the brown-haired boy, who didn't return it. "Normally he's in a better mood. He has the… ah… the floo journey makes him have a sickness."

Everyone nodded to show that they understood. Obviously it was impossible for him to know the entire English language; every now and again they'd all just have to improvise. He moved on to the girls, and first indicated the curly-haired one. "This is Odette Jade." She flapped her fingers in greeting with a smile. "Finally, this is Rosalie Étincelles."

"Hello," she said, her accent even thicker than Auguste's.

Sirius grinned at them all, and this even raised a smile from travelsick Bastien. He knew he'd never remember all of their names straight away, but pretended that he had them all memorised. "Hi, everyone. Great to meet you. I'm Sirius – that is, Sirius Black - and this is James Potter, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans, Charlie and Delia Dawson, Beatrice Bellamy, Rachel… Parks, isn't it? And finally, this is Peter Pettigrew."

Everybody exchanged quiet 'hello's, and then Sirius punched Auguste in the shoulder. "Good to see you, anyway. How've you been?"

"Excellent, I've been excellent." He turned to Oscar. "Sirius is my brother that's not my brother that I told you about."

In mockery, Sirius turned to James. "Auguste is my bitch."

From an explanation Sirius had given years ago, the French boy understood and laughed, muttering a few words' translation for his friends, who laughed late. He leaned forward and kissed the boy's forehead. "Yes, it's true."

"Ahh." Sirius leant back in his chair, and casually undid another button on his shirt. To the English girls' disgust, all the new girls leant forward. "I've got all my favourite people with me now."

James looked a little put out by this, but covered over his distaste with a smile, and summoned some plates over for the guests, offering them all some food.

Only Lily noticed that he kept trying and failing to get Sirius' attention over Auguste and Remus. She felt like putting her hand on his arm, but she didn't. She couldn't.

---

Before long, it had been arranged that all of the French students everyone had been acquainted with at dinner were going to stay with the Gryffindors. McGonagall sensed that this was going to bring a lot of excess trouble, and didn't like it, but Dumbledore insisted it was excellent for international relations and had, for once, gone against her wishes and condoned it.

She supposed that he was the headmaster and he had the right to do such things – but this was her house, and she was going to have to keep them out of trouble.

This was going to be a very long month.

James shared this sentiment as everyone sat around the fire in the common room. All the younger kids had been intimidated away by the loud laughter and the easy camaraderie that had occurred between the English and French seventh years, but this didn't ease James' feeling of tension. He felt like he had to compete with Auguste somehow, and he wasn't sure he could do that. As a result, he was quieter and more withdrawn than usual, and even Sirius realised something was wrong.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked quietly, knowing that his friend certainly wouldn't appreciate him bringing this up in front of the others.

"I'm fine. Just… heavy inhibitions."

James wanted the chaser to interpret this to mean that he wanted to leave so that Sirius would make his excuses for him – _he's tired, he's got something to do, he feels ill_. Instead, he tried to help, and bad things tended to happen when he had the wrong end of the stick and tried to help.

"You know what helps with inhibitions, don't you?" Sirius grinned.

"Oh, come on, I'm not in the mood."

Privately, James reflected that he wasn't doing a very good job of winning Padfoot back. He was just coming across as moody, stubborn and boring. This just wasn't _fair_. How had a couple of weeks in the holidays brought them this close, anyway?

Sirius had already turned away, however, and was announcing to the rest, "Come on, everyone, we'll go and have a party in that spot in the grounds. Lots of firewhisky. Lots of sex."

"I'll come," Auguste said, which meant that all the other French students would, too.

"I'll make sure you do," Sirius replied, winking, but nobody – not even the sewer-minded James - grasped what he meant.

---

Various trips to see the house-elves in the kitchens and one gazebo charmed up by the oak tree later, the Gryffindors and the new 'Can You, Can't You?' initiates found themselves wrapped in blankets, sitting around a roaring campfire. Conversation was flowing easily, despite what Lily had thought about language barriers – it seemed that Bastien's English was excellent when he wasn't feeling ill, and he and Remus were managing to fill in the language gaps that appeared.

James' earlier feelings of being left out were fading along with the awkwardness. That might be down to the butterbeer and firewhisky combination, but he did feel more settled now. Everyone was getting along really well, and actually, he was looking forward to what should be a great month.

Of course, the conversation managed to flow towards playing 'Can You, Can't You?'. "I will seem to have a fear of to play if I don't play soon."

"Fear _of_ playing," Bastien corrected, but Auguste just flipped a hand at him.

"My meaning is there."

Remus felt a strong sensation of knowing exactly how the dark-haired French boy felt. In fact, he had a feeling that he and Bastien were going to be even more similar than it first appeared.

"Shall I be a devil and bestow you one?" Sirius said, an eyebrow raised and his smile wide. Clearly, he had something in mind, and although his flamboyant language required a quick French explanation from Remus, Auguste was in no position to pass it up.

"Yes."

A real grin escaped Sirius' lips now. "OK. I dare you to take all your clothes save your boxers off and jump into the lake." The English girls and Rosalie – who understood the basic concept of the dare – started giggling. Nudity, surprisingly, hadn't taken any role in the game so far, so this was a real step forward, however mild said nudity was going to be. Sirius liked making girls laugh, and seeing Auguste's poised act shiver for just a moment stroked his ego enough to raise a smirk. "I'll give you six hundred points for it."

Bastien translated the 'save your boxers' bit, and Auguste no longer looked anxious. In fact, he laughed, clearly as game as Sirius. "No problem." Instantly, and showing no hesitation, he pulled off his scarf with one hand as he put down his glass of firewhisky and threw it at Oscar, who wolf-whistled. The grey button-up shirt must have been elasticised as he pulled it straight over his head and discarded it at his feet, provoking a quiet sigh from both Dawson twins. His chest was quite a match for both of the extroverted marauders', and it was hugely noticeable that both recognised this and sat up a little straighter to tense their stomach muscles by way of competition.

Lily smiled sagely at this but then stopped smiling again as the trousers came off and were thrown at Oscar again - who caught them with a laugh – in order to allow her face to accommodate a thick blush. He might have been just like Sirius, but she couldn't know that for _sure_ yet and couldn't she just like the look of him?

The thought lasted only moments before Auguste let out a battle cry and ran and jumped into the lake with a forwards somersault. There was rowdy applause and cheering all around as he emerged once again, gasping, and shaking his hair away from his face. "_Merde!_"

"Cold?" asked Sirius with a smirk as his dripping wet friend pulled himself up and stood next to him on the bank. He had a blanket balanced on one finger but it didn't stay there long as it was snatched from him and wrapped around the boy's shivering form.

"Fucking freezing."

"Why is it," James asked light-heartedly, "that you couldn't say 'Where is the nearest toilet?' but you _can_ say English swear words?"

Auguste laughed. "The English professor is boring. We like to look at bad things to say in the…" he indicated a book with his hands, "…the book of words."

"It is odd what we can say with these words." Oscar said, passing Auguste his trousers. "We do not need to ask where the toilet is if we can say…"

"Where do I piss?" Jerome finished, and everyone – even Lily – laughed.

"What else have you worked out how to say?" Charlie asked, but Bastien – amidst a smile – had to tell them what she meant before they burst into peals of laughter and he himself answered her.

"I lose my brother, Jacques, in a shop." he introduced. "I have lost my bastard."

"There was a class on safety," Odette – whose English was also quite good in comparison to Auguste's – piped up. "I have been assaulted. That wanker hurt me!" She laughed along with the others. "I did not think of that. Jerome thought of that."

Jerome took a bow. "_Merci_."

"It's a shame we don't officially learn French here," Remus mused, and although most of the transfer students didn't understand 'officially', they caught his drift. "We'd probably do something similar."

"I teach Sirius French. I will teach everyone French." Auguste offered, but all the girls protested, thinking of the things Sirius had been made to say.

"We don't need to learn how to say we're lesbians, thank you." Charlie replied, voicing everyone's opinions in one sentence.

"I am glad you do not," replied the brown-haired boy, pulling more meaning from her sentence than she'd intended. She didn't mind, however; it was the right meaning, and his unblinking eyes had met hers so nothing mattered anyway. She smiled at him, and as he smiled back Delia wondered whether her sister ever took any of her advice.

The thought was lost to her, however, as Jerome and Oscar began teaching Peter, Remus and Rachel a French song and everyone joined in, their combined voices forming only a low buzzing in the quiet gloom of Hogwarts castle, bathed in darkness.


	17. Can You Have Both Brain And Brawn?

Seventeen… this is how old all my characters are

Seventeen… this is how old all my characters are. Ahh, how sweet!

**I'd better get straight on with writing this time, or I'll make a total hash of it.**

**Ohh, before I do. I've just remembered to correct myself. One reviewer (I'm sorry, I can't remember the username and I'm not in a position to check) reminded me of this, but I meant to say. James is actually a chaser in Quidditch, and Sirius is actually a beater. I only found this out a couple of chapters after I began writing; so my mistake. I'm sure you won't mind that I keep it this way rather than go through and change everything.**

**Chapter Seventeen**

Jerome was the first to wake up, but the others were quick to follow as they heard his curses. The sun was shining, Professors would be walking around and here they still were in the gazebo, the remnants of the fire lying at the centre of it with goodness knew how many incriminating bottles lying around it. "What do we do?"

With barely a yawn, Sirius was standing and at work charming away the burn marks on the grass and the ashes and levitating the blackened wood gently into the lake to clean and sink. "We clear it up. No problem."

It heartened Lily to see the grateful smile that Sirius gave when James pulled himself from his comatose slumber to help him. It was proof enough for her that as much as Auguste was a novelty item, James would always come first in the chaser's eyes. Maybe it wasn't proof enough for the seeker in question, though. He seemed down again, and even though he was trying to hide it she could tell that he had a headache.

Before long, everyone except Auguste – who was clearly not an early afternoon person, let alone a morning person – was up and helping with tidying away the evidence that they'd ever had a party. Eventually, even the lazy French boy stood up and helped with getting the gazebo down, and he alone charmed it to fold and push itself neatly into its case, which Sirius downsized and slipped into his back pocket.

There was a moment of quiet after all the rushing to clear the things away, and then a collective peal of laughter. Only one person didn't laugh, however. James patted Lily gently on the back to try and comfort her. "What's wrong?"

She smiled at him, but shook her head. "Nothing. Just worried we still might get into trouble." A sigh slipped out of her mouth, which she pretended was a yawn before she could continue. "Both head boy and head girl both drinking and sitting around a fire in a tent in the middle of the night? Doesn't look very good, does it?"

"Ah, we'll be fine. We've done this loads of times and never gotten caught. Sirius is good like that."

"Mm."

"You don't look very reassured."

She offered him another small smile, pleased that he was mature enough to speak to her properly now. "OK, I'll be reassured. Just for you."

It was the first time she'd ever seen James Potter blush, and regrettably it faded as quickly as it had appeared.

--

Breakfast was an amusing affair. Professor Ford had wanted to know why there was a twig in Peter's hair, and they'd had to improvise a story about him liking to go for walks in the mornings. Of course, he hadn't believed a word of it but without any proof he couldn't condemn them. As soon as he'd left everybody – including the French students who couldn't quite understand every word spoken – began laughing.

"I'm sorry, I should have checked."

"It's alright, Peter. We already know you don't look at a mirror in the morning." Sirius said lightly, but the remark cut quite deeply and he seemed to realise it, biting innocently into a slice of toast. Nobody commented, but Remus gave Peter an apologetic look; almost as if it was his fault that something so cruel had been said.

In an attempt to quickly get off the subject, James began chatting as animatedly as he could about Herbology, which was first lesson. Jerome joined him in an attempt to ease the tension he felt through the language he didn't speak.

Remus leant over to speak to Sirius in a low voice that meant only the intended could hear him. "You don't have to be so harsh to Peter."

Completely disregarding the fact that he'd hurt Peter's feelings, Sirius grinned. "Oh, I do if it's going to get you to whisper in my ear like that."

For once, Remus had the courage to raise his eyebrows in distaste and sit back, going along with being assertive. Why should Sirius be allowed to speak to his friends like that, anyway?

Auguste, however, laughed. "Oh well, Sirius."

Normally, James would have sided with the werewolf; him and Padfoot may as well have been brothers but there was being an idiot and there was being an idiot. However, now that he had Auguste to compete with, he felt like it might be a good idea to side with the chaser. "That's _you_ told, mate."

Sirius pouted. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm into men. They're such bitches."

At this comment, there was a loud cough as Bastien managed to lodge the bit of sausage he'd just put into his mouth in his throat and attempted not to choke on it. Jerome, who was sitting next to him, slapped him on the back by way of help. "OK?"

"Yes, fine. Thank you."

For the rest of breakfast, however, Sirius kept catching the boy giving him funny looks like he disapproved of him, and after a while they began to irritate him so much that he lapsed into further immaturity and gave one back.

That put an end to it. He would have stuck his tongue out, but that would have been plain _childish_.

--

Seeing as France was a country in which wizarding towns were plentiful, the 'Froggies' – as Sirius had dubbed them – were surprised to find that Hogwarts was located next to the only exclusively magical town left in England, and had been eager to have a look around it. Now that weekends were open, supposedly for studying, the marauders and the girls had offered them a tour.

Lily had always been scornful of large groups walking around together, thinking that it could easily be intimidating to other visitors; herself included. However, now that she was a part of one these thoughts were dismissed with ease. Surely their laughter and occasional girlish squeals – some of which scarily came from Sirius, albeit on purpose – weren't intimidating at all?

As they turned the corner to reach the main shopping street, Charlie scooted over to the head girl having been chatting to an amiable Auguste. Her smile was light and airy as if she was going to start singing – she did do that sometimes, Lily knew. It was a querk of hers. In contrast, however, she kept her voice quite low. "What do you think of Auguste?"

Lily shrugged. "He's alright, I suppose. A bit posey, and that." Suddenly, a slight air of nervousness gripped her. "Why?"

"Well, you know. I like him."

"If you know you like him, why are you asking me?" Her tone wasn't annoyed or defensive, just curious. She'd noticed that all her friends tended to ask her this, and had begun to wonder why.

Charlie flashed her another smile. "I suppose it's just because you're responsible enough to spot the bad ones."

"Yeah, that's why she won't go out with me." James called out from somewhere in the group, knocking into Sirius slightly, who gave a boyish laugh that Auguste echoed eagerly, unwilling to be left out, which irked him.

The redhead looked at the floor and breathed out quietly. This wasn't the first time James had said something that reminded her of how he used to be not so long ago. It wouldn't be long before he started ruffling up his hair again if he continued on this route.

Delia popped up on Lily's other side and was about to ask what was wrong when suddenly there came a disgruntled growl that put the head girl in mind of a wild boar or something similar, and a girl marched over towards the boys.

"No prizes for guessing who she's after," muttered the blonde twin, and craned her neck along with the other two to have a look at what was happening, Rachel and Beatrice a couple of feet away and doing the same.

She paused a second, too furious for words, in front of Sirius. "Hello, er… Jess." It was quite obvious the name had taken a few seconds to come to him, and Remus wondered whether this was because leglimency had had to play a part in its retrieval. He looked uneasy, and had every right to be. Lily had only just had time to register that she really rather liked the girl's rusty-brown hair, cut into a bob, before her thoughts were shattered with a devastatingly loud slap connecting painfully with Sirius' face.

"_Bloody_ hell!"

"That's the least you deserve! I woke up and you'd just disappeared! Gone!"

"Well, I never said I would stay, as such."

"Oh, then I take it we're disregarding when you said 'See you in the morning'."

Sirius smirked. "To be entirely fair, I did _see_ you." Perhaps he hadn't really deserved it the first time, but Lily condoned this second slap, this time on the other side of his face. "Back off, will you?" he said before she could spit another insult at him, his hand twitching as he fought against nursing his face with it.

"I think it's only fair I get the chance to educate your friends about how much of a tosser you are."

He adopted a patronising tone. "Clearly you're not over me, and that's OK. One hit is all it takes and you're addicted. Much like heroin; and you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Miss Jessica Second?"

At this, James put his hand on Sirius' shoulder, prompting that this conversation was going too far, but it was shrugged off. The chaser, for a moment, felt he'd won; she didn't slap him – but she did much worse. "I'm not the one who was shelling out nicknames."

At first, he didn't understand, furrowing his brow. "_Nicknames?_"

"Yes. Moony, you called me; all hot and bothered at the time, too, if you catch my drift." Her mouth twisted into a smirk of her own as his face fell, blood rushing to his face. The boy whose name he'd called out turned his lips in so that he didn't break out into a wide smile. Sirius might not be frightened of getting slapped, but Remus didn't think he fancied it much.

"That's… something else."

"Of course it is," she said, a condescending smile on her face, and feeling that she'd done enough damage – though not really understanding the blow she'd dealt to his ego – Jessica Second spun on her heel and walked off, back towards Madam Puddifoot's where she was now working as a waitress.

Remus let go of the muscles he'd been using to keep his face in check, and allowed the grin to bathe his face in glory and golden light. "I must say, I'm fairly flattered."

Unafraid to laugh at himself in such a dire situation, Sirius passed a grin right back. "Yeah, well you'll be fairly _flattened_ in a minute if you keep on." He swung his arm around Remus' shoulders, however, pulling the boy close, and for once received neither complaint nor embarrassed attempt to have it moved.

"Soppy arse," James punched him in the arm from the other side, provoking a push that sent him a metre or so away, laughing like he was two years younger, looking at Auguste in clear triumph.

Charlie and Delia linked their arms through Lily's as they noticed the distant glance she was bestowing on the boys' encounter. "We understand now," Charlie said gently, boxing her in between them to try and make her feel better as they walked a little behind the others, observing the French students' tour in quiet ease.

--

If the weather really was controlled inside the Hogwarts grounds like Remus had guessed, it certainly wasn't in Hogsmeade, and after ten minutes or so it was too bitter to stay outside. After taking a short detour to pop in to see the house elves and get some snacks, they all made their way back up to the common room to relax there for the rest of the day.

Lily was watching the boys carefully. They'd actually separated off into two clique-type things; James, Auguste and Sirius gathered around a chessboard in one, and Remus, Bastien, Jerome and Peter in the other. Oscar was sitting with Silvine, chatting with her and complimenting her quietly in French.

Charlie and Delia had decided they didn't like the raven-haired French girl, finding her aloof and quite flat, but they'd clicked quite quickly with Odette and Rosalie, in spite of the fact that neither pair could speak the opposite language to a satisfactory degree, so their conversations consisted mainly of single words or phrases and charades, and lots of giggling – a language they all seemed to speak.

To tell the truth, however, Lily wasn't sure that Odette and Rosalie were her sort of girls. Yes, they were friendly, and they hadn't said or done anything to affront her, but they seemed a little shallow and she found it difficult to believe that they'd be able to have a decent chat, even if they conversed in French. Rachel and Beatrice seemed to feel much the same way, so she'd taken a seat with them.

The two brunettes had, now that they'd been properly introduced and were actually hanging out with each other a lot more, formed quite a firm bond, and seemed to have quite a few hobbies in common. Lily didn't feel like she was being invasive or was an outsider, though – perhaps knowing the importance of including others was just a trait of people who knew what it was like to feel so alone.

She wasn't talking much despite this, but they knew instinctively that she was just thinking, and would both have been correct in their guesses as to what she was thinking about.

It was James' turn to play chess against Auguste; it seemed that both had lost to Sirius, which the boy in question was, of course, celebrating overtly about. The competitive nature she saw in her head boy – the head boy, _the_ head boy – was something she hadn't seen in him for years, save for during Quidditch. He'd started to get so likeable. Why now, of all times, was he having a relapse back into his old, unbearable self?

She shuffled in her chair, surprising herself with the amount that she wanted him back to how he'd been. Tucking her hair behind her ears in a sure sign of her concentration, she waved to get his attention.

Admittedly, his expression softened considerably as he looked over at her. Judging by the concerned tone with which he excused himself, eyes still on her, she must have looked a bit upset. He came straight over and took the seat opposite her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, fine. I just wanted to talk to you about something."

James' eyebrows rose visibly, but he only said, "OK."

"Why are you competing with Auguste?"

He smiled weakly. "Don't beat about the bush, do you?"

"I never have." She leaned forward slightly, and readjusted her position, sliding her feet from beneath her so that one of them was hanging to the floor. "Don't worry, it's not something that everyone's talking about or anything. It's just what I've noticed, and to be honest I don't really understand it."

"I'll tell you what _I _don't understand – how they got to be bosom buddies after just one week."

They both looked over at the chess area, where Auguste was playing against Sirius again. It was just like watching Sirius with James, but with minor differences that James didn't appear to be able to see.

"They're not that close," she said. "He's just a fad."

The head boy snorted. "Who's a fad to who?"

"Well, both. I mean, look at the situation. They'll have met up in France and gotten completely smashed, had what they can't really remember but assume to have been a great time from the bits when they were sober and expected never to see each other again. Now, though, they feel like it's a mad coincidence that they've met back up and it's like meeting back up with someone from school you've missed over the summer. Do you know what I mean?"

James briefly remembered the summer between third and fourth year, poring over a photo he'd taken in the common room which had, by chance, caught Lily smiling at somebody. "Yeah, I do. I understand." He relaxed back into his chair. "It's hard, though."

She felt quite sorry for him. He looked a lot more downtrodden than she'd expected; she'd envisioned cocky competitive pride. "You know you and Sirius are like brothers. That's how everyone sees you."

"I suppose. I wish Auguste'd just get lost, though." Moments, though, the twins and the two French girls burst into their loudest lot of giggles yet, and as the two head students looked over James realised something. "I take it you're feeling a bit batted out too, then?"

"No, I just think it'd be awkward."

Taking in the polished and high-maintenance appearances of both the new girls, James knew what she was thinking though she hadn't said it. "You speak French really well, though; you'd probably be able to get them right on your side."

"Maybe."

The conversation might have gone on longer, but Sirius let out a roar of victory and James' head snapped over to his direction, unable to pick off his bid for the boy's attention and friendship. "Hat trick! Looks like France is going down at International Wizards' Chess this year, mate."

"We will win if you play," was Auguste's reply, maybe a little too sharply in tone to be put down purely to translation difficulties. The room, Lily noticed, had gone quiet.

James was willing to let the chess drop in favour of a target he felt was closer to Auguste. "Maybe, but we'll win Quidditch 'cos your team are shit."

"Your Gryffindor team is, put by my First Beauxbatons."

"I'm Gryffindor captain, and by Merlin, you're sorely mistaken."

The French keeper didn't understand the sentence and had to accept a translation from Bastien, but laughed when he knew what had been said.

"You, a captain? You are too short."

"Gryffindor play by brain over brawn; though that probably isn't something you can comprehend."

Again, the French boy didn't quite understand until his friend spoke it back to him but knew that it wasn't a compliment from James' tone. They were both smiling still, working under the pretence that this was all friendly mockery, but their faces were set. There was a pause as Auguste tried to think of how he'd say what he wanted to, clicking his fingers to try and remember, but eventually he gave up and muttered the French to Bastien, who once more converted the words to another language, this time slightly unwillingly.

"He says is that a challenge?"

"Yes," James said, first to Bastien, and then turning his head towards Auguste. "Yes. It is."

Sirius, it seemed, was relishing in this rivalry, though he certainly didn't understand what it was over. "What say you both we make this a bit more interesting?"

--

Both James and Auguste unfolded their challenges at the same time, knowing exactly what was inside without reading it; _Can you have both brain and brawn?_ They both took their seats at opposite sides of the chess table, which had had the pieces removed and taken to one side. Between the boys on the far end of the board, Sirius was grinning, and clinking the bottle of his finest Russian Standard against the shot glasses they'd transfigured.

"Either of you feel like going first?"

In order to make it clear that he wasn't going to help Auguste as he translated, Bastien had offered up his usual job to Remus, who had accepted and was seated to Sirius' left, and also beside the French boy. His task began straight away as Auguste replied in his own tongue, possibly in an attempt to confuse James.

"He says that seeing as he's not frightened of a little question, he'll go first and save Potter – er, James – from having to."

To Lily's relief, James did not rise to this, and responded with the cool head that was likely to have earned him his position as head boy. "Alright. Be my guest."

"Then you can decide, Auguste, whether you'd rather start with the… ah… brain or brawn side of things."

"Brain," he replied, accent smothering the word like chocolate, not moving his gaze from the Gryffindor captain's determined eyes which were the same shade as his own. This was the side of him that James had said was the weaker, and he felt the boy had to be proven wrong.

"Alright." Sirius said, picking up the first of the 'trivia' cards he had prepared; these were Remus' revision cards by day. "Auguste, how many documented uses are there for dragons' blood? That's the haemoglobin-filled red stuff that comes from a Hungarian Horntail's neck, not the aftershave which I am wearing - quite deliciously, I might say."

Remus flashed him a fond silencing look, but turned his gaze away as his French ward answered. The response he'd mustered had taken a lot of thought, and was spoken highly uncertainly. "Twelve?"

James' smirk could not be concealed.

"Very good," said Sirius fairly, putting the card down on the table, "and discovered by the Right Honourable Albus Dumbledore, too, but never mind about that. Prongs, your turn." He picked up another card with 'History of Magic' scribbled finely in Remus' handwriting on the back of it. "In which year did the Chudley Cannons last win the UK Quidditch league?"

"1892," James replied, without any hesitation. Auguste began to protest in fast French.

"He doesn't regard that as a fair question," Remus explained, waiting for the second half of the boy's complaint to end, "and he reckons that you're biased."

Sirius held up his hands, a little hurt that his 'French brother' would suspect him of weighting the competition. "I just took the card that was on top of the pile. I can't help what was on it, and I can't help that he knew it. It's just general knowledge, mate."

Auguste nodded, but clearly he wasn't satisfied. His eyes trailed the movement of Sirius' hand from its position on the table to the top card, as if expecting some sleight of hand to occur and the card to be chosen rather than just taken in the right order, and scowled as the keeper of the cards grinned at the question he saw.

"Cracking question; cracking card. What type of star is Sirius?"

"Come on, Rem, it's not that bad." James grinned as the boy who the card belonged to blushed bright red.

Sirius laughed again. "Oh, it is." He held the card in front of the seeker's face so that he could read it, and so that he could see the little doodled loveheart that the werewolf had drawn next to the name of the star.

Batting his way back into the centre of attention again, Auguste continued bluntly. "I don't know." At least, Lily thought, he didn't beat around the bush and had admitted it straight away. Sirius himself would probably have tried to bullshit his way around it.

"It's a white dwarf on the constellation of Orion," Remus informed them all, and James and Sirius began laughing both at once.

"And as if by coincidence, that's my middle name." The taller marauder flicked his hand, and got back down to business. "Anyway, you didn't know, so… strip, shot or share?"

"Shot," replied Auguste, enjoying being allowed to speak English without constructing full sentences. He accepted the small glass filled with Sirius' favourite poison easily and knocked it straight back as if that's how he always did things – but in truth he was having to blink a lot faster than usual.

The girls hadn't really been involved with the planning of the game; they'd just come to watch, and had remained silent until now. Delia interrupted momentarily for the first time to ask something they were all thinking. "Sorry. Strip shoot what?"

"Strip. Shot. Share." Sirius enunciated each word as best he could – which, as he'd been brought up in an upper-class family, was very well. "You get a question wrong or lose one of the challenges and you pick on. Strip's obvious; you take some of your clothes off. Shot's… well, taking a shot of this rather wonderful Russian Standard vodka – which, may I add, belongs to me. And share's a bit like picking truth in truth or dare; and I'm sure we're all clear that only complete wets go for share."

_There goes that option_, thought James, nodding at the next card.

--

Five shots, a t-shirt and both socks later for Auguste, James was still only missing his shoes. The French boy had cottoned on to the shots not being helpful when you were supposed to be answering questions a little too late, which Lily supposed proved James right anyhow.

"No more," said Auguste drunkenly, waving a hand at the card Sirius had just picked up. "Something else."

The Gryffindor chaser looked for a sign of James' sober consent, and received it. "Alright. Tests of bravado, then."

"Hurray," said Charlie sarcastically, voicing the opinions of every other spectator. It had started getting very boring watching James get everything right and Auguste get everything wrong. The comment was disregarded, however, and Sirius grinned.

"OK. Both of you, I want you to race to the seventh-year girls' dormitory."

Auguste looked puzzled, but this wasn't because he was drunk. Sirius thought he'd better explain, Remus translating quietly for all the French students.

"Boys aren't supposed to be able to get into the girls' dormitories because apparently we're not trustworthy enough. I, for one, am insulted by this stereotype. Well, whatever. The stairs, when a boy stands on them, turn into a long slope and you just end up looking like a moron if you're not prepared for it. However, it is possible to get up there if you really scramble and just go nuts. Girls; have I not been up there before?"

"Far too many times," Delia replied, "and that's only twice."

Sirius laughed. "Well, you know. I managed to do it, anyway, so it can be done; and the first up wins." He poured himself a shot from the bottle, and then looked up to find them both still sitting there, poised to run. "What are you waiting for, a ready-set-go? Get your arses up there!"

As if their chairs had suddenly caught fire, both boys stood up and ran to the stairs. Auguste was first to reach the bottom of the stairs, but only because James had decided to pace himself lest he run out of energy on the actual slope. He arrived a second or two later, and couldn't help but laugh as Auguste fell comically down the slope. He took a deep breath and took his first few steps up, grabbing at the rail as best he could to pull himself up. Behind him, he heard Auguste's feet slamming down into the slope as he tried to find grip, but couldn't and slipped back down again. Obviously, he didn't want to copy James' tactic.

"Shit," muttered the captain, pausing for a moment to shrug his shoulders in an attempt to give his arms some feeling. This was a sure-fire way of getting up but it was very draining, and took a lot of upper-arm strength. He'd have to just persevere now; he didn't think he'd be able to get as high as he had now again if he slipped.

Down below, he heard Sirius and the girls cheering him on, and one voice in particular stood out. He twisted his head round to look, and he'd been right – there was Lily. "Come on, it's not far now!"

A few months ago, she'd never have condoned this type of thing, let alone get actively involved in trying to motivate one of the contestants, as it were. He gave her a wide grin, and strode on again, speeding up at the thought of reaching the top.

Hearing French curses again, he looked over his shoulder. Auguste was charming little handholds into the slope and using those to climb up. They were small; from the floor it must have looked like he was ascending the slope on his own steam. James didn't complain, however – he was too far behind to catch up now. A couple more steps and he was there… until Auguste caught hold of his ankle and pulled.

Shocked by the obvious sabotage, he stumbled backwards, letting go of the rail and fell backwards through the air, headfirst. Lily screamed, but luckily, Sirius was quick with his wandwork, charming a mattress underneath his falling frame and then another one on the floor where he landed.

Auguste stood at the top, and waved with both arms. "I am here! I am at the top!"

He was expecting applause. They'd wanted wit, and he'd taken the initiative and removed the competition, combining the qualities they were supposed to be testing. That'd show James Potter.

Sirius, however, had gone bright red, furious with Auguste. He'd never raised his voice at the boy before, but didn't hesitate now. "You wanker! He could have died!" There was a moment's awkward silence. The French boy was slightly taken aback. "Well?"

He muttered a few words, and Remus, with a disgusted look on his face and a tone to match, obliged – Bastien was far too humiliated by his friend's actions. "He thought he'd just slip back a bit."

"You pulled his leg out from under him! And even if he had 'just slipped', the way you'd unbalanced him would have meant he'd have smacked his face on the slope and probably broken his nose! What are you, a tosser or just stupid?"

Auguste slid down the stairs, far more gracefully than he had the other times, as James shook his head. "No, come on, he's drunk. He wasn't to know I was going to _fa_-"

"I do not need your help!" the French boy shouted, suddenly in a fit of rage, and for reasons nobody could fathom pulled back his fist and delivered a heavy punch to James' nose, knocking him backwards onto the mattress again.

Sirius roared and pulled his wand out but was restrained by Remus pushing against him. "Stop it! Just leave it!" His face was still a murderous mask, but he did as he was told. He hadn't had as much as Auguste, and could just about keep his temper in check by continuing to shout things at the French boy, who was being held back at both arms by Jerome and Oscar.

Odette and Rosalie had linked arms, terrified there was going to be a huge fight, but Charlie and Delia had left them to join Remus in his attempt to calm Sirius down. Lily, however, was ignoring the fight and had dashed straight to James' side as he sat up, and gasped at the steady stream of blood gushing from his face. "Oh, Merlin!"

"I'm alright, I'm alright." He lied, trying not to make her worry, and stemmed the blow with the back of his right hand. He winced at the pain. "_Shit_."

She pulled gently at his elbow, looking nervously and with distaste at the shambles before them. "Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital wing."

"No, no, there's no need. I'm not going."

Lily pulled a face. "You and your ego, James Potter." She summoned the wizarding first aid kit from beside the fireplace, the Ferula charm on the tip of her tongue but not quite coming to her, and began gently mopping up the blood on his face as he spoke.

"It's not that. He's drunk, he didn't mean it; but if I go to the hospital wing then he'd get into seven bells of trouble."

"Under normal circumstances, I'd say that was admirable, but – James! He hit you in the face!" She propped up his chin with the fingers from her left hand as she spoke so that his head was on the right angle, and cleared the rest of the blood from under his nose. "It could be broken, you know, and then it'd be mis-shaped for the rest of your life."

"I'd deal with that. I'm not my best friend, you know."

They shared a smile, and she passed him two of the specially designed plugs for stopping the blood from flowing. "There, put those in."

He did so, and gave her a jaunty glance. "Sexy." She laughed quietly, and he spoke a little more softly. "Thanks, Lily."

"That's quite alright." She took another look at him, and gave a sad smile before leaning forward and giving him a hug. "Poor you. It must really hurt."

He pretended that he was in more pain than he really was so that she'd stay with her arms around his neck. She pretended not to notice, and looked over his shoulder as Sirius stormed off to the dormitory with Remus and Peter hot on his heels. It seemed Auguste would be sleeping in the common room that night. He knocked over the hourglasses angrily as he went past them, and Lily watched James', which had landed upright on the floor, gain the six hundred points the game had earned him add to his score.


	18. Can You OutTeach the Professor?

Finally popped out chapter seventeen

Finally popped out chapter seventeen! Woohoo; and now my solo celebrations are over and I've cleared up all the (full bottles of) champagne, it's time to start eighteen.

**If this chapter title decided it didn't want to follow the 'traditional' CYCY naming pattern of 'Can You XYZ', it would be called 'Sweet and Sour Collision'. Well, we'll leave that to next chapter; the not-following-the-pattern thing, I mean. I shock myself with the content of the next chapter, purely because of its centre-point, and how I've found myself feeling about said centre-point.**

**Enough about nineteen – I'd be better off sticking with this chapter.**

**Sirius and Remus are the focus of this chapter; probably because this is the last time they will have the chance to be so. That, ladies and gents, shows you exactly how close we're getting to the end of this tale, which, in all fairness, you're likely to be getting bored of by now. But I digress.**

**Finally… see if you can spot the Potter Puppet Pals reference.**

**Chapter Eighteen**

The morning following Auguste's slight rampage was awkward beyond all comprehension. Sirius' mood had worsened overnight, as now he felt slightly guilty for shouting his head off, despite Remus' attempts to make him feel better by saying he acted like a loyal friend, and tending his face which was still sore from being slapped. He made his way down to breakfast looking slightly unkempt, which was very rare for him. He didn't even appear to have shaved, which meant that stubble had started showing on his chin. Despite his good looks, this was one style that he just couldn't pull off.

"Er-" James began, but changed his direction at a sharp shake of the head from Remus. "What's first lesson, again?"

"How should I know?" replied the chaser, but for once his tone wasn't so much aggressive as tired and a little upset. His eyes were cast down as he ate, regardless of Auguste's attempts to meet his eyes. Barely, he registered that Lily was informing James that it was History of Magic, but didn't comment.

Finally, the French boy could wait no longer. He wasn't looking at his best, either – though this could be equated to his despicable hangover. His voice sounded surprisingly clear. "Sirius."

Rudeness during an argument was something Sirius usually found intolerable, though this rule was usually waived when it came to Peter. "Mm."

"Sorry."

After a deep breath, he looked up. "It's not me that you should be apologising to, is it?"

"No. I am sorry, James."

Having spoken with him late into the night, Lily knew that the moment's hesitation before the head boy's reply was just to make it appear as though he was considering his acceptance before giving it. "That's alright. I understand." She moved her hand discreetly and squeezed his arm by way of… well, she didn't know. Support? Congratulations? Concurrence? Whatever it was, she dropped her hand again as his head tilted towards her in surprise. He smiled. "Lily, I-"

"Potter," interrupted Professor McGonagall, appearing from the musky air of the castle as only she could, "must you crowd our dining hall with your presence even though you've so clearly had your fill?"

"Oh, no, Professor, I'm starving. Just – er – pausing to accept an apology."

"Well, see that you hurry."

As soon as she'd gone with a sweep of her favourite emerald cloak, Oscar laughed. "She does not like you, though you are head boy."

"It's true, James, you've got to be the least liked-by-Professors head boy Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Oh, no." said Lily matter-of-factly, having finished a mouthful of toast. "That was Adrian Pletch in 1924. He was a tall boy, a Ravenclaw." For a moment, they all just stared at her, and then her thoughtful look was replaced with a wide smile. "I'm wish you weren't all quite so gullible; you're going to die out in the cold, harsh reality of the world."

Sirius grinned. "I've got someone sensible to protect me."

"Who's that, your second personality?" Remus shot back wryly.

"If you will insist on being cruel to me I'll have to sort you out." The six o' clock shadow on Sirius' chin suddenly disappeared behind Remus' rose-tinted glasses.

"Oh, yes?"

"Oh, yes." The chaser half-growled it this time, eyes flicking – no, _raking_ up and down the werewolf's face. It was rather clear to everybody what was running through his mind. He leaned in so that their lips brushed, and for once the boy withstood this display in public when they were interrupted with a cough and the sound of a chair being scraped across the floor.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me." Bastien grabbed his bag, and with a face that looked as if it could have been charmed red, fled from the Great Hall, presumably just to sit outside for a while. Jerome, signalling his apologies, followed to see what was wrong, but from the knowing smiles on the other French students' faces, they didn't need to go after him to understand.

"What is his problem?" Sirius said, finally letting out his complaints about the boy. "He's been giving me funny looks since yesterday."

Odette giggled, but silenced herself quickly. Oscar, throwing her an amused glance, started to explain for her. "We all think he has a…"

"A soft spot," said Odette, filling the gap. The blonde boy nodded.

Sirius furrowed his brow protectively, arm drifting subconsciously around Remus' shoulders, meriting a smile. "A soft spot for who?" His mind was flashing pictures of what he supposed Bastien was thinking; the French boy pressing his lips to Remus, hands and bodies clashing, together in bed and always slipping between tongues – literally and metaphorically, through kisses and language, French to English and back again without realising in their concentration on other things. He was surprised that this wasn't quite the repulsive image it should have been, and wriggled in his chair.

"You, of course." Auguste said, daring to speak for the first time in a while.

Sirius blinked. The arm slipped down from the possessive posture. However hard he tried to look surprised, the ego-filled side of him could not help but give a victorious grin. "_Me?_"

"Yes. But please - you must refuse with kindness. I think it is easy to hurt him."

This was the first thoughtful thing any of the English students had ever heard Auguste say, and he even had a fond and genuine smile on his face as he spoke. Charlie was especially relieved; after seeing the worst of him last night she'd wondered whether it was really a good idea to get involved with such an obvious _bastard_, but James had put it down to drunkenness, it seemed, and so would she.

A couple of moments after the casual chatting had started again, Jerome returned to his breakfast with Bastien in tow. He nudged the boy, who muttered something in French and cleared his throat again. Sirius noted that he did that often.

"I didn't mean to just… run off like that. I felt at an inconvenience. It was rude, and I'm sorry."

"Don't worry yourself," replied Sirius with his charming smile plastered all over his face, "we don't mind. Sit down again, and finish your breakfast." The dark-haired French boy eyed him nervously but found no reason to be suspicious, and did as he was told. His eyes kept drifting up to the longer-haired marauder, who was endeavouring to use Delia's pocket-mirror to shave using a charm. "Never did like having blasted bristles."

This comment was directed towards Bastien, of course, who gave a nervous smile and then gave all his attention to his food, as far as was possible.

It was true, then. Sirius grinned at sandy-haired Remus beside him, but the smile faded slightly when it was returned only half-heartedly. In the space of two minutes, things had gotten infinitely more complicated. He understood perfectly the look that was in Remus' eyes, and wanted to speak to him about it badly, but knew he couldn't do him the disservice of doing so in public. He supposed this was a time for intrusive leglimency, and pushed a thought into his boyfriend's mind.

_Why are you jealous?_

The werewolf turned away, shaking his head slightly. He allowed a line of speech to flow into the top of his mind, simmering. He wondered whether the slightly bitter tone of voice would be carried across, and hoped not. _I don't want to talk about this now. Thank you for being concerned._

_Rem, come on. Talk to me._

"And how do you propose that'll work at this particular moment in time?" Remus said, not testily but as though he'd simply had enough. He pushed his plate forward, finished, and stood up. The rest of them had gone quiet, which embarrassed him. They must have thought he'd gone mad; replying to nothing. "Well, I'm going to History of Magic. I'll see you all there."

"Rem," started Sirius aloud, but didn't stand up to stop him leave as he walked away from the table and through the doors of the Great Hall. Even he had a conscience, though, and a couple of seconds after he'd left, he stretched and pushed his chair out. "I'd better go. See you all in a minute."

Oscar leaned in to speak to Bastien, eyes on Sirius' retreating form. "You have work with that one."

The boy's ears went crimson. "Sorry?"

"He makes lots of…" he finished the sentence in French, James laughing at the ending he'd imagined.

"He's a big flirt, is what he's trying to say, but I don't see what it has to do with me."

"It's no use, mate, we've… we sort of already know." James tried to soften the blow, but this didn't work.

"Know what?" Bastien's dark green eyes were stony. He, too, decided that it was once again time to leave. "I am going to follow Sirius and Remus to History of Magic. Try not to speak about me when I'm gone." He repeated the last sentence in his own language, just to ensure that the students who shared it understood, as he left.

Jerome gave Oscar a distasteful look, somehow knowing that it was him who had divulged the secret. "You should not have spoken about Bastien. That was his to say."

"He would never say!"

The argument continued in fast French, and Auguste had to physically restrain lanky Jerome as he leaned across the table in his fury. As head boy, James felt he'd better try and put a halt to it, but his assertion of, "Boys," apparently didn't bear enough authority as the pair disregarded what he'd said; or didn't hear.

"_Oscar, sil vous plait! Arrete!_" Silvine did not even attempt to speak English, but this didn't matter. This was the first time any of the Hogwarts students had heard her speak, and they were surprised. Her voice was high, but also very soft and silky. She reddened under their gaze, but none of them had remarked badly, so she attempted English. Her accent, they were surprised to hear, was not too heavy. "Stop, both of you. It is ridiculous."

Lily smiled at the girl, as if encouraging her, and nodded at the French boys. "She's right. I think Oscar was just trying to be nice, and Jerome, I understand that you're trying to be a good friend to Bastien. Now, come on; let's all just forget this and go to History of Magic."

The raven-haired French girl obliged with the translation, and the two arguing boys nodded. She and Lily shared a smile – perhaps they'd be good friends now that Silvine had begun to share her words with the rest of them.--

At a sprint, Sirius managed to catch up with Remus before he reached the stairs. "Hey! Wait for me."

"I doubt I need to, the speed you're running at," the boy remarked, but stopped anyway until the chaser caught him, fringe a little tousled and a wide grin on his face.

"Hi."

"Don't be thinking you're going to get your own way being cheeky, because it's not going to wash with me."

Sirius matched his pace with the other boy as they began walking again. "Rem, I don't understand why you're upset."

He laughed sarcastically. "Merlin, Sirius, that's half the problem! You just have no idea."

"If you'd explain then maybe I would!"

"Bastien, Sirius. It's Bastien. The minute you discover he's into you, you start flirting with him like you're going to die tomorrow and suddenly I don't exist anymore."

"Does that bother you?"

Remus stopped walking forward and turned to him, pushing him lightly on the shoulders. He was slightly out of breath from the exertion it took to muster the courage. "That is a ridiculous question."

"Oh. Sorry." He restrained a smile. He quite liked assertive Remus, because assertiveness meant comfort – or at least, it did to Sirius.

The werewolf didn't seem to know how to respond to this bout of out-of-place politeness. "Well, yes. You'd better be. It really was… er… very silly."

"If being cheeky isn't going to work, can I win you over with the puppy dog eyes?"

"Sirius, you're being cheeky to start with." He was already melting, though, and knew that the other Gryffindor had noticed as the chaser started backing him towards the wall.

"Mm, well that's just how it is." As Remus' back pressed against the stone, he didn't know whether he wanted Sirius to stop where he was or move a bit closer. In the end they ended up a foot away from each other. "Complaints?"

"No." Remus replied, in a voice that sounded appallingly high as it slipped out of his mouth between lips poised for what he knew was probably about to happen.

"Good," muttered the chaser, and it did happen. The werewolf was thankful that the majority of people were still in breakfast, leaving the corridor empty.

Almost empty. They jumped apart as Bastien's heeled footsteps sounded in the hall. "Sorry," he said, and walked straight past them. The back of his neck was bright red, Sirius noted, and watched him go, grinning. Remus coughed.

"I'm doing it again. Sorry."

"You're saying that a lot recently."

"Got to keep you happy, haven't I?"

They set off down the corridor together, fingers entwined together in a rare display of that sort of affection. Sirius didn't usually like to do anything romantic that appeared to have no connotations as he felt it damaged his ego; then again, the sandy-haired boy thought, squeezing his hand so gently it was barely noticeable, no-one was there to see.

--

History, as usual, was catastrophically boring. The first forty minutes of the lesson were virtually eventless, despite being filled with lifeless descriptions of supposed huge events on the timeline of the creation of Hogwarts. Even Lily had lost all concentration, and was busy doodling flowers on her parchment, which James had previously commandeered and drawn a snitch saying 'hello' on.

Auguste had, to everyone's surprise, taken the seat on the end of the row next to Charlie, and they were playing a paper game that involved taking it in turns to draw something to form part of a whole picture. Thankfully, this didn't have anything to do with words or language, so there were no problems as they spent the lesson drawing houses and clouds and trees.

Ten minutes after Remus got bored of noughts and crosses, Sirius needed to seek out entertainment again, and sent a note to James for assistance before his brain fried.

The one he received back put a grin on his face that he couldn't – and didn't want to – wipe away. He showed it to the werewolf, who rolled his eyes with a smile.

'_Can you out-teach the Professor? As Professor Binns finishes making a point, publicly agree with it, spouting lots of rubbish along the way. Stand up and go to the front of the class, continuing to 'make your point', then move on to a new topic and completely replace Binns. Worth: 350 points._'

With new purpose, Sirius' ears perked up and he sat up straight in an effort to suit his role. He caught only the last couple of sentences of Binns' account of the friendship that existed between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, before all the disagreements began, and raised his hand to speak.

"Yes, Stephen?"

"I'd just like to comment on the unique and special friendship that occurred between the founders, Professor."

Bowled over by the long words, Binns missed the innuendo and indicated his approval. "Go on."

"Is it not true, Professor, that Gryffindor met Slytherin at the Red Kelpie tavern over a mug of firewhisky?"

"Yes that's… that's quite true."

Sirius knew for a fact that this wasn't true at all, but didn't let this show on his face. "Yes. They met and shared words, and very much enjoyed each others' company. In fact, they spent the whole night together."

James sniggered.

"That'll do, Mister Rotten." This silenced him, but Sirius had to fight not to laugh at Binns' mistake which gave James the same surname as the founder of the Sex Pistols.

As part of his act, Sirius threw his friend a look for the interruption before continuing. "This night, as I said, was the start of a wonderful friendship. By my research, they saw a lot more of each other after that." At this, he stood from his seat, earning a few laughs and a few funny looks, both of which he ignored. "They met at the same inn at the same time once every month for a year. They'd have gotten together more frequently, but their occupations – both of which held high levels of responsibility - at opposite ends of the country prevented this." He managed to exit the row gracefully, despite it being in close proximity with the one behind, and began his slow, rambling walk to the front of the class. He made appropriate – and, Remus noted, some rather inappropriate – gestures to match with his words. "I often wonder whether Gryffindor would have discovered Slytherin's distaste for muggle-borns and half-bloods at this stage had they been given the time to convene more frequently; and if he had, would Hogwarts have even been founded? Perhaps it's just a lucky twist of fate which prevented them from speaking of their opinions until the school came about."

Even though he was making it up on the spot, Lily acknowledged that actually, without the invented monthly get-togethers and scattered innuendos, what the boy was saying made sense. How long would their friendship have stayed in place once those contrasting opinions were uncovered before Hogwarts was founded? Partially to help Sirius with the dare, and partially because she was interested in where this might go, she spoke to him. "I'm sure both founders' opinions on the worth of muggle-born and half-blood witches and wizards would have shone through in their conversations, fleetingly. Maybe the fact that they'd gotten on so well and been so comparable when they spoke of other things formed a subconscious, idealistic bubble that blinded both of them from the truth. Maybe they did know, and just didn't want to believe it was true."

"Rose-tinted glasses, you might say."

"Yes."

Bastien nodded, and offered his own thoughts. "It is possible that they both understood the opinions of the other, yet believed that they could persuade them of their own views."

Sirius nodded, proud that he'd managed to improvise a point that was valid enough to have theories built upon it. "I think that both of your suggestions are good. However, is it really conceivable that two men of such a high calibre and level of intelligence would either turn a blind eye to such a contrasting attitude, or think they stood a chance of influencing someone's view of something so in-built?"

James was impressed. He'd thought that the bunch of double meanings his best friend had mustered at the beginning would be pretty much how the entire thing would be, but Sirius had shown himself to be engaging, vibrant and remarkably fast-thinking – a sparkling combination. He was also showcasing the depth and raw intellect that many had probably never realised he possessed.

Famously, Sirius hadn't really thought about what he was going to do once he left school – "Wing it, probably," had been his last answer to the question. However, James thought that after the lesson, his priority would be to try and convince him to go into teaching, seeing as he so clearly had a flair for it.

His question had been rhetorical, so after glancing quickly at his watch and seeing that it was nearly the end of the lesson, Sirius clapped his hands together. "The final point I'd like to make is this; why did they speak to each other? Even now, people are protective of their privacy, and many years ago there were different ideas about what was – and was not – socially acceptable. These unspoken rules were stricter then, so what initially attracted them to each other? Is it just co-incidence?" He paused. "Is anything?"

At this, the clock chimed for the end of the lesson, and the class burst into rowdy applause. Sirius grinned and took a bow, slightly embarrassed for once but still incessantly pleased. "Settle down, settle down," Professor Binns tried to say, but was ignored for a couple more seconds until the cheering died down. "Thank you for your contribution, Stephen."

"It's 'Eros', sir."

The class laughed as he returned to his, and they were dismissed. A highly impressed Remus was there to meet him. He passed Sirius his bag, having packed up all his equipment for him. He noted the boy's reference to the Roman god of sex and love. "I'll say; Eros."

Sirius was about to reply with something jaunty and clever that hadn't yet come to him when Bastien walked over, his cheeks aflame. "That was excellent, well done." With the formalities apparently over, he watched Professor Binns leave the room, then tipped his head down in apparent embarrassment before cutting to the chase. "Um… can I speak to you for a moment, please?"

It wasn't often that thoughts were so strong that Sirius' leglimency skills were practically rendered obsolete, but the rather undisguised look of jealousy that appeared on Remus' face prompted him to have a look around the boy's thoughts.

_Back off._

He implanted his light-hearted comment, quite pleased that he was so affected. _Didn't know you got possessive._

Despite passing this thought to the werewolf, Sirius replied to Bastien immediately, unwilling to leave him hanging. He was cruel sometimes, but not that cruel. "Yes, certainly." To save the boy having to ask Remus to leave, he did so himself, but in his own charming way. "Shall I see you in Herbology, Rem; or wait outside for me if you want, and I'll walk you there?"

"I'm perfectly capable of getting myself there, thanks. I'll see you in a couple of minutes." His tone wasn't so much irritable as dejected, however, so Sirius touched his arm as he turned to leave.

"Hey." His tone was soft – comforting, even. "I'll run and catch up again. Promise." A quick rub of the arm was enough to embarrass Remus enough to make him scarper, and he did so, calling his acknowledgements. He grinned. "He's so easy to tease."

"Yes, I see that." The French boy offered a short smile. Cleary, he didn't want the conversation to go this way. "What I wanted to talk to you about was what Oscar said this morning."

"OK."

He took a deep breath. "It _is_ true."

Sirius launched politely into his usual speech. "Well, I'm flattered, but…"

"But you're going out with Remus. I understand that. This is what I was going to tell you. I do like you, but I would never… I would not try to act in a way that would harm your relationship." He gave a sad smile. "Though please don't think I believe I'd stand a chance, as I don't."

"Come on, don't be like that. I think you're great."

"No, you don't. It doesn't matter, Sirius. I am not the first to be interested in you without being good enough, and I will not be the last."

"Bastien," the chaser said, turning so that he could continue to face him as he walked over to the door, but the French boy didn't stop. "_J'aime_, Bastien_._"

Sirius missed the small smile that appeared on his face as he left the classroom. He shook his head, bemused, as he picked up Remus' bag; the werewolf had remembered to pick his boyfriend's up, but not his own. A fond smile now decorated his own lips as he slung the strap over his shoulder and set off out of the door, unfazed by the weight of all the books the boy had crammed into his bag.

As he stepped out of the classroom into the corridor, he was relieved to see that Bastien hadn't taken the route that Remus liked to use, which meant that their paths didn't have to cross a second time. He broke into a sprint and didn't slow until he caught up with the boy he'd been chasing, wrapping an arm round his waist and planting an affectionate kiss on the top of his head.

--

That evening, James and Lily set off for their Not-Bothering-Snape drink in high spirits, laughing together and both blissfully unaware that everyone watching them go was smiling quietly and shaking their heads at how blind they were. Their exit, however, left the common room surprisingly placid, especially after Oscar and Auguste's chain of fifteen consecutive arm-wrestling matches was broken by Silvine's wish to go for a walk.

After an hour or so of friendly boredom, Sirius was reduced to throwing grapes in the air and catching them in his mouth, a task at which he was naturally talented. Usually, he'd have gotten bored and stopped after he'd done it a couple of times, but the helplessly mesmerised expression on Remus' face as the fruit fell between his lips amused him.

He sat up. "Have a go."

The werewolf hadn't realised he'd been outwardly expressing his interest, and that characteristic blush appeared on his face. "I'll be rubbish." This, however, was masked consent, and Sirius knew it, sending a grape his way with a flick of the wrist. Instinctively, he moved his head to catch it, but it bounced off his lip and landed on the floor, rolling out of sight underneath the seat. "Told you."

"Oh, come on, you were an inch off."

"Perhaps, but still off."

"Ahh." He grinned and brushed his finger under Remus' chin. It was a speedy movement, and could even have been a friendly gesture – not that that was what it was to either of them. "Would you feel better if you had a grape?"

Dryly, he replied, "It'd be as if the world was spinning my way," but had a smile on his face. He held his hand out for one, but was met with a grin, a grape already held between two rows of shiny white teeth. Remus rolled his eyes, making a complete hash of covering up that he was really quite pleased, but leaned forward to take the fruit and the kiss, joined together in one sweet and sour collision.

The grape wasn't eaten right away. It was passed between mouths as if neither wanted to be rude enough to assume it was theirs for the taking until Sirius accidentally bit it. He made a disgruntled noise as the sourness of the juice that spilt from it settled on his taste buds, and pushed the broken grape back into Remus' mouth before pulling away softly.

"How very gentlemanly of you to give me a spoilt bit of fruit."

"Yes, I thought so, too."

Today, the soft growl in Sirius' throat as he spoke sent a signal to the other boy's chest like a crack of a whip, and he leaned forward to kiss him again, unsatisfied with the first round. Sirius' hand worked its way round to the back of his neck, stroking the longer strands of sandy hair.

"Now, now, boys." James said, clambering through the portrait with all the grace of a small elephant. Lily followed behind, not nearly as awkwardly. "No sex in the common room."

She tutted. "Shush, you. You don't sound anywhere near as authoritative or funny as you think you do."

"Is that so?" Continuing his chain of clumsiness, he tripped over the legs of Remus' chairs. Both of them burst into peals of laughter, and seemed to forget that Sirius and Remus were even there, chatting to each other about their evening at speeds that made it difficult to make out what they were talking about if you weren't them.

The dark-haired boy grinned, and moved his hand over Remus'. He flicked his eyes over to the stairs, and was very pleased to feel the boy's hand tense. This might not be a 'Go on, then,' but it was certainly an indication that he wanted to. After what felt like decades, he nodded tersely, nervous, and stood up with Sirius, hands locked together as the taller boy pulled them both up the stairs.

Remus was always one for subtlety, so perhaps it would have shocked him to know that more or less everyone in the common room understood what they'd gone up for. Their guesses were proven to be correct when the rest of the boys returned to the dormitory and found the curtains on the werewolf's bed drawn and charmed shut, and signs that a sound containment charm had been cast.

James laughed at Peter's wide eyes. "Oh, come on. It was bound to happen some time."

--

It had gone well past midnight but Sirius still wasn't asleep. He felt the steady rise and fall of Remus' chest on his, smiling to see the other boy curled up like a child atop him. It had taken time for him to discard his wretched pyjamas and his inhibitions, but now as he slept he didn't seem to have a care in the world. His light grip tightened on Sirius' arm, and he turned his head in – perhaps for comfort, or warmth. A strand of pale hair fell casually over one eye, and the wakened boy tucked it gently behind a waxen ear. His skin was like porcelain. Certainly, it was very easy to break. Enough moonlight was peeking through the fibres in the curtains to reveal the multiple scars that it had brought to his back - unwelcome, long and thin and yet so much more beautiful than Remus believed them to be. They marked him human, mortal, and thanks to that despicable circumstance of his, Sirius felt that this was a title he deserved.

Suddenly, the sound of skin slipping against sheets interrupted his thoughts. It was a sound he knew well, but he couldn't tell who was leaving their bed. He'd have disregarded the noise after a couple of seconds as someone going to the privy if it hadn't been for the sob.

It was quiet and over as soon as it had been allowed to bleed from the mouth of origin, but Sirius had heard it alright, and wasn't about to let it drop. Even if it had been Auguste, who he was still supposed to be being a little frosty towards, he wanted to make sure that the person was okay.

He didn't want to call out in case he disturbed Remus' sleep – the boy was absolutely washed out, after all – so instead he popped his head out of the curtains, smoothly and tenderly setting his boyfriend aside. The boy turned around in surprise, and revealed himself to be Bastien. His head whipped back around immediately upon seeing Sirius, and he rushed towards the door.

"Bastien," the chaser whispered, "are you alright?"

"Fine, go back to sleep," replied the boy huskily, ambling out of the door. It seemed he was heading for the common room, or beyond.

Sirius wasn't quite satisfied with this, however, and after grabbing his – or were they Remus'? – boxers from the pile at the foot of the bed along with the Gryffindor dressing gown hanging from the bedpost, he stumbled through the dark to follow the French boy down.

The boy was alighting the stairs as he noticed Sirius following him. "Sirius!" he hissed. "Stop following me!"

"Is something wrong?" he asked, ignoring the command, and tying the cord on the dressing gown at the front in a knot. "You can tell me if there's a problem. Or are you going for some food? You'll get lost, you know."

"Go to bed, will you?"

In true Sirius nature, he shrugged. "Not tired, really. Come on, what's up?" He reached where Bastien was standing with his back to him, and tried to turn him around with a hand.

"Don't!" He drew back his hand, seeming to have hit a nerve, but it wasn't the one he thought. He tried taking a few steps around the boy to look at him, but this seemed to have the same effect as Bastien turned around again. "Stop it! Don't look at me!"

Sirius thought he understood. "Listen, are you crying? Because if you are-"

"I'm not crying, Sirius! Just… go away, alright? Leave me alone."

A few moments of silence passed until the English boy sighed. "Why don't you just tell me what's wrong?" Bastien started to protest but Sirius shushed him. "If you think I won't be able to understand then let me tell you something. I can handle a lot more than you think I can. I'm used to hearing secrets – big, important secrets – and I'm used to keeping them. Understand?"

"Yes." After taking a deep breath, Bastien turned around to face the boy he liked so much. It took a lot of courage. Eyes that were usually a mossy-green colour had turned an inky jet colour, and from between almost colourless lips a pair of small ivory-white fangs pointed out shamelessly. They were proud to be his curse. "It was three years ago that I was bitten."

"Merlin," whispered Sirius. He wanted to comfort the other boy, but he'd probably had plenty of that, and given their situation it wouldn't be the right thing to do. "I'm sorry."

"You do not have to be." Bastien turned away again. "Go, if you want. You wouldn't be the first."

"No, no, nothing like that." He followed the boy around, and dismissed this option with the wave of a hand. The tone of his voice softened. "I'm not frightened."

A small smile appeared on the vampire's face, fangs cruelly biting into the lower lip. It was painful, but drew no blood. His voice felt broken, and his confession came out a ghost of how he'd have liked to say it. "I am." The sob from before resurfaced, sticking in his throat. This time, it brought a sliver of a tear along with it, which was quickly wiped away. Neither of them commented on this, preferring to pretend that they hadn't noticed, or didn't care. Bastien changed the subject. "I'm not dead."

"Oh?" Sirius wouldn't have liked to admit it, but his knowledge of vampires was limited. He'd thought that they _had_ to be dead, that they had no blood or breaths or reflections – but he'd heard just as many rumours about werewolves and hardly any had turned out to be true.

Another shake of the head. "It's just at night. The fangs appear, and my eyes cloud. And blood; I need blood. I want it." To his credit, Sirius did not flinch, even before Bastien realised how this had sounded and began to clarify. "I don't drink it from others; please don't think that. I have vials of it upstairs, from animals mainly."

"Do the others know?"

"Only Jerome. I didn't know how kindly the girls and Auguste would take to it."

Sirius allowed himself a smile. "I like that the girls and Auguste are grouped together."

The other boy smiled back. "It seemed fitting." The smile faded as he stumbled across a thought. "They'd both react the same way. Disgusted, I expect."

"Maybe the girls; I won't lie. They might not get it. Auguste, though? He'd come around."

He shook his head. "I'm a monster."

Sirius pushed his arm, not in anger but to try and make him see the truth. "That's bullshit. You are not a monster. You're exactly the same as you were before. Something happened, I'll grant, but nothing about you has changed. You have a condition, but that's all it is. It's not a disease, it's not a poison in your blood and it's not a curse. It just _is_, and it's important that you realise that."

Despite the distinct feeling that this speech had been delivered before, Bastien felt as though a weight had been lifted from him. He was embarrassed, but felt as though Sirius deserved recognition for listening and most of all, understanding. Jerome had been wonderful but he was just full of pity. The boy opposite him seemed to know how it felt, and had offered undertones of both sympathy and support. It was a combination he needed. "I'm glad you heard me get up."

"Same." Now that the vampire topic had been discussed, the awkwardness of Bastien's crush began to shine back through – at least, it did for him. Sirius seemed to be immune to it, taking a seat on the longest satin settee and pouring himself a drink from the jug of cold water that the house-elves placed in the common room every night. He patted the chair beside him, and the French boy sat down. No words were spoken until the glass was drained of water and replaced on the tray and Sirius had turned slightly to his side. He smiled. "You and Remus have so much in common."

"Well, there's languages, books and you, but I suppose the similarities end with my turning into a creature."

Sirius laughed, more heartily than Bastien had expected. "Yes, yes, you could say that." After a while, he stopped and inside his mind, the cogs started turning. A werewolf and a vampire. Could he? Should he?

He did. "Bastien, I do really like you, you know."

"I don't believe you."

"Then let me convince you." Before he could change his mind, a hand danced across the ashen skin on the boy's face, and as the lids closed on those night-black eyes, they kissed. The fangs didn't get in the way as much as Sirius expected – in fact, they may as well have disappeared as immoral tongues collided and debauched lips caressed each other. To the vampire and the serial lover, Remus Lupin was but a guilty memory, that undying glow of honest firelight flickering across their skin.

**Just wanted to make the note that I'm very aware that my vampire isn't very vampirish, and that that's not how vampires are. My theory is this; if JK's allowed to have a friendly werewolf, then I'm allowed to have a half-vampire!**


	19. An Interlude

Corr, I feel cruel

Cor, I feel cruel. 'S awreet, it'll all be sorted out soon. Not yet, though. This chapter is dedicated to someone I never thought I'd dedicate a chapter to. It's very out of swing with the format of the rest of the story – sorry about that if it doesn't read very well. It just felt right to do it in the present tense, especially with the last paragraph. Don't worry; I won't start.

Before I go – did Sirius have sex with Bastien? I don't know. Did he?

**An Interlude**

_Tuesday morning. It's eight o' clock._

Peter wakes up and he wonders why he's himself, but the thought disappears soon. He parts the curtains. There are more beds than usual, and because it's a morning it takes him a moment to remember that the French boys are in here. He can't quite remember all their names, but that doesn't matter. None of them really speak to him.

He's last to use the bathroom because the rest assume he won't mind them going before him.

"You don't mind, do you, Pete? It's just I'm in a hurry."

"It's alright, he doesn't mind. Petey doesn't prune anyway, do you, mate?"

Sirius winks. If Peter was a queer he'd understand why they all flock to Sirius, but he isn't, and he doesn't. All he knows is that he has fantastic hair, and an amazing body, and a charming smile, and everything else good he can think of.

There are some bad things about Sirius. He has a fiery temper that burns you badly when you ignite it, and Peter knows he's an easy fuse to light. He's arrogant, but he deserves to be. He has his favourites and he sticks to them. He's addicted to sex, and alcohol.

These are big things, but they don't matter because it's Sirius Black and nobody wants to see it that way.

Peter sometimes wishes that he and Sirius were better friends, but he knows it won't happen, probably because Padfoot doesn't want it to. Peter's sure he doesn't like him. Anyone with senses can tell.

"Aw, Pete, pick your socks up, will you?"

Sirius' own socks are on the floor, too. Maybe Peter's are just taking up too much room.

--

_Breakfast, forty minutes later._

Nobody pats the seat beside them as Peter walks in a little bit late. He doesn't mind. The one next to Rachel is open, so he takes that. She's not the sort to invite someone to sit next to her, anyway, and doesn't seem to mind as he starts chatting politely about the weather, the lessons, the exam nerves. Anything.

He quite likes Rachel. He hopes it doesn't show, but it does.

--

_Two years ago…_

Peter's ill. It's a Saturday, so it's alright for him to stay in bed all day. He has a temperature, and his head aches. There are flashes of pain and light.

James looks over from revising for his Transfiguration OWL. "Do you want a drink of water, Pete? It's just a suggestion, is all; you look dreadful, really pale."

It's a saving grace. "That'd be great, thank you."

"Jug's on the table, mate."

The worst part is that he genuinely thinks he's being nice.

--

_One week ago…_

Sirius and Remus are discussing Sirius' moustache after he asked what the werewolf thought of it. Peter's just sitting there, neither involved nor isolated.

"Honestly, I don't care if it pisses your parents off. It's got to go!"

Sirius is a little affronted by this. "You've never complained about it before."

"You've never _asked_ me before."

There's a pause, and Peter decides he'll throw his chips in. "It _does_ look a bit out-of-date, Sirius."

"Who asked you, fat rat?"

He's not serious, but Peter's hand drifts subconsciously to his stomach. It's not that big, is it?

It isn't, but the thought sticks with him, even after Sirius does as he's advised and shaves the damn thing off.

--

_A rude awakening._

Peter's minds drifts away from his memories and back to reality as James clicks his fingers multiple times in front of his face. He looks to his left, and there's Sirius. He's slept through the lesson, too. Remus is leaning in front of him from his seat at the desk, whispering nice things and running a hand through his hair, a finger over his cheek. It's gentle, and Sirius wakes up slowly with a smile on his face. He's met with a kiss.

James, give him his due, is concerned. "OK?" he asks, with a grin.

"Yeah, fine." Peter grins back. The times they ask and the times they seem to care make it all worth it.

--

_Tuesday night. It's just gone eleven._

Peter settles into bed along with the others, drawing his curtains. He pulls out his diary from its not-so-hiding place and writes about his day. He doesn't describe his emotions for fear of understanding them.

As soon as it's done, out comes his most secret possession from the centre pages of the leather diary. It's a list of things he must do in order to become as well-liked as James or Sirius – aptly titled 'How To Be Popular'. Today, he has nothing to tick off on his list, but he still wants to look at it.

His eyes flick down the completed tasks – numbers four, twelve, sixteen and twenty-eight. Score over 2000 points in 'Can You, Can't You?'. Get drunk. Tell a joke that makes James laugh. Learn to play an instrument; and scribbled next to the ticked box for this one in pencil is the word 'harmonica'.

It's not much, and he's had the list for a year, but this is all he's ever wanted. He folds the sheet up and places it back inside his diary. Twenty-one more, and he's popular.

The thought that he'd die if this was found drifts into his mind, but he knows it never will be, so it drifts back out again as he lays down and shuffles into a comfortable position.

He turns out the light. Sleep evades him for a while, but he catches it in the end.

--

_Tuesday, nearly Wednesday. It's midnight._

Peter is awoken by a whisper from the next bed that he hears and understands, despite the fact he's only just gained consciousness. He recognises Sirius' voice immediately, and even if he hadn't, that was whose bed it was coming from, right next to his own. "Will you bite me?"

At first he wonders what Sirius is playing at, asking a werewolf to bite him, but then he finds out that that wasn't what he was asking at all.

"No, I will not! That would be inhumane."

It's not Remus' voice. It's Bastien's.

Peter raises his eyebrows, but it's none of his business and he knows it. He ignores Sirius' disappointed reply and goes back to sleep. It's not his place to tell Remus, so he knows he won't.

--

_Wednesday. Everyone's in Transfiguration._

"Hey, Pete, pass this to Jimmy, will you?" Sirius is whispering at him, and he nods. He accepts the folded scrap of parchment from the boy, and opens it for a look. This is a mistake. "Oy, don't look at it!"

He does as he's told and passes it straight on to James, fixing his eyes on the front of the class. James smothers a laugh, scribbles his reply, and gives it to Peter. He nods, indicating Peter should pass it straight to Sirius.

He wishes someone would pass a note to him.

--

_Wednesday evening, in the dormitory. Everyone's bored._

"I'm going for a walk," Peter says. He leaves off the end sentence that he'd like someone to go with him.

There's an obvious lack of a reply. Remus fills this gap with a friendly sentence, and a smile. "OK. See you in a bit."

Sirius doesn't look up from shuffling the pack of cards he's got in his hands, and James continues to read his book. There are no waves as he leaves.

--

_Wednesday evening, five minutes later. The library is quiet, as usual._

As Peter sidles into the library, he heads straight for the muggle section, thinking of revising for Muggle Studies, which he's never really understood. The shelves with the books he's looking for almost fully enclose the single table dedicated to them in the corner of the library, arranged in a square.

Peter doesn't notice this, because Rachel is sitting there.

Her hair is tucked behind her ears. It's straight, brown and lovely, just long enough to skim the bottom of her face as it curls up. She's had her hair this way for a long time, but as far as Peter is concerned, this is a good thing because it suits her. She doesn't wear make-up unless the twins force it on her, but that's something else that doesn't matter. She's pretty without, and doesn't get spots, not really. The book she has cradled between her hands is called _Jane Eyre_. He gathers she found it in the muggle fiction sub-section.

She notices him as he takes a few steps forwards. He greets her first. "Hi, Rachel."

"Hello, Peter." She has a smile on her face, and clearly she's very shy. He takes the seat opposite her.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do you?"

"Not at all." She even puts down the book to pay him full attention. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine."

A couple of seconds pass. They're just smiling at each other. Peter thinks that she probably just wants to get on with her book. He stands up. "Sorry, I'm interrupting your reading. I was going to revise for Muggle Studies, but I can go somewhere else."

"No, no, it's fine! Honestly, I don't mind. I'm only here because I have nothing to do. Bea was talking to Silvine in French, and I didn't want to interrupt."

"I'm sure they wouldn't have minded."

"Perhaps not."

Out of nowhere, he asks. He has to. "Am I boring you?"

"Oh, Peter, of course not! What a thing to say. Why do you ask?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. I just seem to bore people most of the time; that or annoy them."

"That's nonsense. I think you're very sweet."

It's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to him.

They chat for a while, and it feels like ten seconds but it's probably more like an hour. They're nervous, but that doesn't matter. They both lean to meet in the middle of the table and kiss softly, ears red and pink.

--

_Back in Gryffindor Tower. It's still Wednesday, and it's still the evening, but everything's changed._

He can hardly wait to tell them all as he makes his way through the common room. He's happy enough to wave at Jerome and Bastien and the rest of the French boys who are grouped round the fire, chatting as he passes them, and he's even happier when they actually wave back. Can they tell he's had his first kiss? Is that why they're acting differently?

As he reaches the stairs leading to the dorms he hears faint laughter, the voices of his friends, and speeds up with a smile on his face and gets closer and hears Sirius say Number Seven, Get A Girlfriend and he feels sick but it might not be real

and the door opens

and they're all laughing

even Remus

and oh God they've got the list

and he can't speak

and he runs

and he slips to the floor

and he cries and cries


	20. Can You Stone the Cold?

I actually feel sorry for Pete now

**actually feel sorry for Pete now. You can tell because I've shortened his name by one letter. That counts as a nickname, and only the male characters I like get nicknames. Wiggles and Wemmy are, unrecognisably, Sirius and Remus, by way of example. More recognisably, James is Jimmy, Jim-Jams, Jimmer-Jammer, JJ or Jazzy. Sometimes, he even gets Potty or Pip Pop.**

**I'd like to state that Sirius has far more nicknames than James, but I'd rather not list them.**

**As for the French students; Auguste is Gusty (pronounced Goose Dee), Bastien is Chevvy (because his surname is Chevalier), Jerome is Jerry and Oscar is Ozzy.**

**A notice – the female characters hardly ever get nicknames, whether I like them or not. Perhaps a little strangely, the only female character in 'Can You, Can't You?' with a nickname is Jessica Second, and she even has two – Jessie and Ticktock. No prizes, eh?**

**I suppose those of you who I see in real life are lucky I don't talk about this non-stop or you'd have no idea what I was on about. That said, I don't think I could talk about this chapter much. I was blushing writing it! Just goes to show I could never write smut.**

**Chapter Twenty**

Remus didn't sleep for the first half of the night, despite his exhaustion. He didn't like to _think_ about details, let alone talk about them, but Sirius certainly knew how to tire someone out, and not just through sex. He was so switched on with his witty words and his little jokes that sometimes it was hard to keep up. Perhaps he wanted it that way, so you always had to be paying full attention. He certainly loved to be in the spotlight, and why not? He was worth it.

Thinking of foreplay made him blush, but he smiled, too. It – sex - wasn't a bad thing, not like he'd thought it was going to be. He felt guilty for smiling, though, especially given that Peter hadn't returned yet.

This was why he hadn't slept – partially because of the guilt, and partially because he was worried about his friend. He might have gone out to look, but it was cold, and there was _Sirius_. Sirius Black, stark naked as the day he was born and with his hair all matted and spread out on the pillow, was right beside him and had his arm slung casually over Remus' chest, rising and falling with each of his breaths. He'd never noticed which position Sirius slept in before, generally being the first to nod off and the last to wake up, but he certainly hadn't expected this curled-up, foetal arrangement. As usual, however, the boy had managed to put his own unique twist on the whole thing, and was facing downwards with his head turned to the side, looking toward his companion. It made a rather strange lumpy shape in the bed, but somehow this was endearing.

That smile crept back onto his face, eyes trailing over Sirius' bare and shapely back. Merlin, his mind was becoming such a repetitive place to be. Was it really such a mystery why the chaser was always relating things to sex if he so often saw things like this? If it wasn't for the alcohol that stripped Sirius' constant lovemaking of any depth, by Remus' mind the boy would probably be falling in love left right and centre.

The door to the dormitory opened, and then closed again, groaning lazily with the effort of such a task. Gently shifting his boyfriend's hand, Remus sat up. "Peter?" he whispered, but it was the sort of whisper which was perfectly audible to those who were there to hear it. Silence was his only reply, which proved that it was indeed the missing boy that had disrupted the door and entered. He waited for a painstaking moment, not knowing quite what to say, and then spoke again with the simplest of admissions. "I'm sorry."

Again, there was no answer - but then again he probably didn't deserve one. He sank back down into the sheets, accepting Sirius' arm again. He glanced at the boy, wondering how he'd known, and saw a grin appear on his face, though the eyes didn't open. He smiled back, and shuffled himself again to move properly into his boyfriend's embrace.

A few moments and movements brought quiet laughter, and with that the need to redo the noise charms. "_Again?_" There were muffled giggles and whispered words. "I can hardly believe you. Oh, alright." A pause occurred, and the sweet sound of an adoring kiss. "I hope you know I'm going to blame you if I'm too tired to move in the morning."

Unfortunately for Remus' conscience, all thoughts of Peter Pettigrew were forgotten, replaced by a need for closeness and intimacy and Sirius, just Sirius.

--

In the morning, Remus didn't apologise to Peter again, believing that it was probably best to leave him to his own thoughts for a while; the boy knew he was sorry, at least. However, neither of the others had apologised, so things were icy at breakfast. The French students didn't know what was wrong, but knew not to ask. It seemed that James had kept to the dormitory bed rather than go back to the heads' common room, because Lily looked confused too. She'd know soon enough.

The day crawled by, with hardly any conversation that wasn't awkward and stunted. By the time the school day had finished and everyone had traipsed back to the common room again, Sirius' brain felt as though it were dying slowly. "Someone please take a dare or I'm going to go and jump off the tower."

"Don't be so overdramatic," said Delia, but she herself reached up and grabbed one of the aeroplanes from the diminishing supply. Flicking it open, she read it aloud as they always did. "_Some people hate the cold, and some people dislike just wearing their pyjamas in front of people, so let's hope you're not one of them for this. Can you stone the cold? Wearing only your dressing-gown, go down to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and bring back a stone as proof. Worth: 100 points_. Piece of piss." She dashed straight upstairs, Charlie following close behind her, and Sirius lounged back into a seat, putting his feet up.

"It amuses me that people will do anything to keep me entertained."

James mimed popping his ego with a pin, even offering a sound effect. "Oh, give it up. She's probably just bored, same as you." He turned to look at Peter, who was staring into the fire emptily. He wanted to apologise, he really did, but wasn't sure it was such a good idea to talk to him.

Noticing the glance, Remus walked over to Peter himself. By now, he'd probably had enough space to think, and he didn't want Peter to think he didn't want to be friends again, because that was what he _did _want. The weight of his guilt was so painful, and it didn't help that his physical weight was dropping and he was feeling drained because of the quickly approaching full moon. "Peter…"

"It doesn't matter, Remus."

"Yes, it does. We shouldn't have looked at your diary or your list, and I'm sorry we did. It was a terrible invasion of your privacy." There was a long, thin pause. "Peter?"

"I kissed Rachel, you know."

"You did?" Remus' voice was high, surprised. "Well, that's… that's lovely, Pete. That's great, well done."

A short laugh came from Peter's lips. He was such a changed person, and it had only been a couple of hours. It was like he'd run into a brick wall, then looked behind him and seen all the people he knew laughing, having neglected to warn him that it was even there at all. "You don't care. Not really."

"Pete…" Remus put his hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to comfort him, but it was thrown off almost immediately, a mixture of his anger and his homophobia.

"Don't do that."

An awkward pause followed, and then the werewolf tried again despite his fatigue. "If it makes you feel any better, you can read my diary. I've got far worse than a list in there, I can tell you."

"That's not the point, is it?" His gaze remained fixed on the fire. "You didn't have permission."

"No, we didn't." Sandy hair flopped over his eyes as he looked down. His blood may as well have been forged from guilt as it ran through his veins like poison. He _had_ told Sirius and James not to look, but then they'd started reading it, and it had been funny. He couldn't help but laugh, although he'd felt bad about it as soon as he'd started doing so. When Peter had walked in, he had a sudden sensation of never having felt worse in his entire life. "It is unforgivable."

"Yes, Severus thought so."

This had come as a bombshell to Remus. He blinked, thinking he'd misheard. "Severus? Severus Snape?"

"Yes. He saw me running and actually came after me; you know, to make sure I was alright."

If the remorse wasn't constantly on an uncomfortable high, the werewolf might have described it as coming in waves. "We thought you'd just want to be on your own."

"I did; at first. Then Sev came along, and he sort of made me change my mind. He was nice."

Another pause followed as Remus considered the use of the nickname, and the verbal stress that had been placed on the last word. "I'm sorry it's taken this for me to be nice to you."

Peter shook his head. "You're usually alright, because you have manners, and logic. And I appreciate the apology." As soon as he'd said this, his face went pale as he stumbled across a horrifying thought. "Remus, none of you will tell anybody, will you?"

Kindly, the werewolf shook his head. "Of course not, Peter. You can count on that." He spoke with sadness, but he was glad that the problem had more or less been resolved, despite having to keep the second half of his reply in his mind – _I think we've done enough damage to you already_.

At this point, however, both boys were distracted by the twins' re-emergence. Delia was, as outlined in the dare, wearing only her royal red Gryffindor dressing gown and a pair of bright pink slippers. Oscar, standing at the foot of the stairs, visibly followed her path through the common room, eyes raking from her fluffy indoors shoes to the top of her head, blonde hair drawn back in a ponytail that meant business and war. Silvine did not look best pleased by this, but as usual, did not voice her concerns and remained quiet.

Delia twirled as she reached Sirius, who was the unspoken overseer of the dare. "Pass your standards?"

"What standards?" he said, grinning, and winked, but nodded in consent. "Yeah, looks fine to me. Now go, and don't come back without a rock."

The blonde twin turned on her heel and left the common room, waved off by Charlie, who had been told by everyone that she was not allowed to accompany her sister as a Siamese twin or as a Snowth, much to her obvious distaste. It took Delia less than five minutes to reach the doors of the castle, which was quite speedy for saying there were professors prowling and she'd therefore had to be quiet as well as quick. The slippers didn't help on the polished floors, either – she found herself having to be very economical with her sharp turns lest she fall over and make too much noise. She silenced the doors with her wand as she left, skidding a little for the last time as she left the moderate warmth of the castle and went out into the dark. The hard bit was over.

The grounds were freezing at night when you didn't have a roaring fire burning beside you, and Delia Dawson felt that bitter wind as she crossed the grass not yet slithered with dew, looking up to Gryffindor Tower and waving animatedly at the figures she could see looking out of the window there. She didn't waste time, however, and nipped straight over to the borders of the Forbidden Forest. There was mud all over her slippers, which annoyed her, but she knew she could charm it off. No – Sirius could charm it off.

She was just beginning to shiver as she met with the dark beginnings of the trees, and this wasn't just because of the cold. The gnarled branches weren't exactly what you could call welcoming with their thorns and dead strips of bark like pointing fingers. She snatched up the rock as fast as she could and scarpered like the forest would try to take it back.

In the glowing firelight of the common room, it became obvious that this had not been one of their better ideas. Delia had gone a little blue on her hands and feet and despite Charlie demanding she sit in front of the fire for a long time, she couldn't stop shaking.

--

"Oscar, tu regardais de la; j'ai tu vu!"

"Ce n'est pas important, Silvine. Restons-en là."

If Remus' hushed translations were correct – and she had no reason to doubt that they were given the couples' tones of voice – then Lily had been listening to Oscar and Silvine argue for at least thirty minutes. Apparently, the raven-haired French girl was a little sick of her boyfriend looking at other girls, and although Remus hadn't translated a name he didn't have to. It was Delia that had been the object of Oscar's roving eye this time around.

"It's a shame," she murmured so the couple couldn't hear, "they seemed so happy."

"They often do, on the surface," murmured Remus. "Saw it all the time with Sirius. Him and those girls looked like they were ready for babies one minute and then the next tick of the clock and he's bored with her." A smile broke out onto his face, remembering something the boy had said to him last night – _you're different to them. You're special_. Lily flicked her eyes over to Oscar and Silvine, indicating it would probably look bad if he were smiling, so he wiped it away quickly.

The thought that these might have just been pretty words of Sirius' didn't cross his mind – then again, it might have if at this moment, Oscar hadn't cursed quite badly in French at his now ex-girlfriend and stalked off. Remus was shocked and didn't really know how to react as poor Silvine burst into tears, but Lily went right over and put her arm around her, gently tugging her over to come and sit with them. It was difficult to watch as she sobbed gently, but it seemed that the redhead was doing quite a good job of helping her calm down.

"Don't cry, Silvine. It's alright." She flashed Remus a look which was clearly intended as a polite 'go away', and he nodded, standing up and muttering something about going to research Amortentia potions. Within moments he'd left the common room, though had taken to the dormitories instead of the exit. Apparently, he'd be doing some practical work instead; then again, she supposed that love was like flying in that you could read about it all you liked but in the end, the only way to learn it was to try it. "Boys are such idiots sometimes."

This raised a small smile. "They are. But this… I made this happen." Feeling pathetic, she stemmed her nose, which had become a little sniffly. "We would not have fought."

Lily shook her head. "You haven't got to think like that. If something's going to happen, then it will happen, whether or not you mention it."

"You do not know Oscar, then. If I do not speak of it, it has not happened." She wiped her eyes with a tissue Lily had pulled out of her bag, nodding her thanks.

"Oh, that's just boys all over, isn't it?"

This earned a little guilty laugh from the French girl that turned into another sob. She'd argued with the boy before but he'd officially told her he'd had enough this time, and she didn't know quite how she was going to cope without him. Odette and Rosalie were lovely, but she didn't really speak to either of them. She had no real friends at Beauxbatons, not like Lily had Charlie and Delia, and recently Beatrice and Rachel. She supposed it was her incessant shyness; she didn't like to approach people unless backed into a corner. "What am I going to do?"

"You're going to try not to worry about him." Lily said firmly, trying to reassure her new friend that things would get better quickly enough. "There are plenty more fish in the sea."

Silvine's good English had allowed the head girl to temporarily forget that she wouldn't understand British sayings or slang, but the raven-haired girl was quick-witted and interpreted it as best she could. "Yes." She paused, wondering whether she should speak about things further. Lily had been so lovely to her so far, and she needed to open up. In the end, she decided to continue on. "I was lucky to have him. I speak very little, at home. He told me I was pretty and I talked to him; normally I would not have."

The language was broken due to the obvious limitations, but Lily understood what she meant. "I'm sure you had a lovely time with him." The couples' body language had told her that the split was for good, so she didn't ask. "Try not to be hurt, though. All good things come to an end."

Silvine nodded, and for a while the pair of them sat there as she composed herself. It was a little awkward, but then again they didn't know each other very well. In an attempt to correct this, the French girl spoke up again. "Can I ask… you and Potter?"

An involuntary smile drifted to Lily's lips, and seeing as she was in female company she didn't force it away. "James is lovely, but we're not… we don't…" She shook her head, and her companion sat up a little straighter to hear her story. It would take some time to tell, but Lily supposed if it would take her mind off things then she didn't mind a bit. "Many years ago, when we first came to Hogwarts, he was such an unbearable little monster…"

--

As Oscar left the common room, his mind was seeping with anger. What did it matter if he'd had a little look at Delia? She was a pretty girl, and it wasn't as though he'd started flirting with her or shown interest in any way, really. He was sick of Silvine's whining, and now that he'd dismissed her as his girlfriend, he should have felt free and uplifted – but he didn't.

The look on her face had been so crushing. He didn't love her anymore, and knew that in all honesty he hadn't for some time, but he still cared about her. Silvine had been such a sweet girlfriend for the most part, and her shyness had been a lovely contrast to his sometimes rather loud personality. She'd been pretty, too, and as much as he liked to say that he didn't have trophy girlfriends the jealous flashes in other boys' eyes as they walked around holding hands had been very satisfying.

There was no question that it was time for them to break up; in fact, they were well overdue. That didn't mean he wasn't feeling bad about it, however.

As he walked around the corridors, he realised that just walking off in anger probably hadn't been a good idea. His sense of direction was an utter disgrace and he knew he was going to have a very hard time finding his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room on his own. Perhaps it'd take him all night – the thought weakened him as he turned yet another corner he didn't recognise.

His tiredness didn't last long, however, as he heard voices he recognised omitting from a room with a white door on his left. His English wasn't good enough for him to recognise the phrase 'Hospital Wing' on the plaque on the door, but he understood where he was as soon as he walked in. "Charlie? Delia?"

The blonde-haired twin was the one in bed, and she'd been in the middle of a fit of sneezes as he spoke. "Oscar?" she asked, sitting up. This seemed to be a bad decision, because it caused another set of sneezes and Charlie pushed her back down firmly with a muttered 'stay'. "Is that you?"

"Oui… er, yes. What… why are you here?"

She sniffed. "I'd have thought that was obvious." He looked puzzled, so she spoke as clearly as she could, annunciating her words as though he couldn't hear her. "I've got a chill."

Her twin, helping the process along, mimed wrapping a cloak around herself. "Brrrr."

Oscar's expression was still slightly confused, but although his brow was a little furrowed, he smiled and spoke in slow, heavily accented English. "I see." He walked a little closer, gesturing with a hand. "Is this… dare? The dare made it?"

Delia nodded, over-exaggerating the movement. "Yes. _Mais oui_." They both felt slightly lost without a proper translator like Remus or Bastien to help out, and as a result they were both getting a little frustrated. Oscar noticed this, and found it ridiculously sweet that the blonde twin was making the effort to talk to him despite her illness.

Really, was he thinking like this just after he'd broken up with Silvine? It wasn't fair, or right – but it did feel that way, and anyway, he'd just said to himself that he hadn't been in love with the girl for so long that perhaps it wasn't so bad. Perhaps it would just take time with Delia to see how he felt.

Luck, it seemed, was shining on his side. A couple of seconds later, having glanced at her watch, Charlie shrieked and grabbed her coat from her twin's bedside table. "I'm late for getting my Arithmancy result! I'm sorry, I've really got to go." As she tore around the door, a cry of "Get well soon!" could be heard echoing down the nearby corridor along with high-heeled footsteps and the disgruntled chattering of some portraits moaning about the young always being in a hurry.

There was a moment's awkward silence. "You… you are cold?" He motioned him taking his jacket off to give to her, but she shook her head.

"That's OK. I've got potions to drink that'll help."

He nodded, and silence fell again. Oscar was the sort of boy that got bored quite easily, but he also had a heart and knew that he couldn't leave her all on her own like this. Conversation was more or less impossible – at least, the sort of conversation they both usually liked to have – so he took the seat that Charlie had vacated at the foot of her bed. Delia had been about to start saying something but saw that he was trying to communicate something, struggling with the words and closed her mouth again softly, waiting for him to manage. "I…" he was a little frustrated, it seemed, so she smiled at him in an attempt to calm him down and it worked. "Silvine and me. I have… she is not mine. I have stopped to be with her."

Delia pretended the smile on her face was down to his patchy English, and removed it. "That's sad. Why did you break up with her?" Using this rephrasing of the question to remind him of the correct term was lovely, or so Oscar thought, and he smiled at her.

"I have no love any more, for her. Someone else."

This opened the smaller twin's eyes. "Oh?"

"Yes. She is lovely." A long, uncomfortable silence followed. They both shifted at the same time, which brought little laughs, and another shuffle on Oscar's part. He didn't know why he felt so awkward – usually, he was very free and open around girls he liked, but he just couldn't put himself at ease this time. Perhaps he'd better just try being bold, like he usually did. Delia didn't seem the type to mind. "_You_ are lovely, Delia."

"Oh." Realising that this was the second time she'd said this in a row, she struggled for something else to say and found the words after a couple of moments. "Thank you. So are you."

A wide smile that reminded Delia of Sirius – but didn't repulse her – worked its way onto Oscar's suddenly quite innocent face. What she'd said could be taken many ways, but they both knew exactly what the other meant. "Ah, Delia? You have a boyfriend?"

"No." This was, in fact, her longest stint without being in a relationship, and she wasn't lonely so much as bored – the thought of being involved with someone else again made her smile and she sat up a bit straighter so she could see him better.

"Ahh. Excellent." He cleared his throat. "You know that we leave after two weeks?"

She watched his eyebrow arch at this. The ways peoples' expressions worked were definitely in a language she could understand. A smile worked its way to her lips unwittingly, but the sparkle in her eyes was wholly intentional. "Well, then, you'll just have to hurry up and ask."

"I never ask question if I know an answer."

"Your grammar is disgusting."

"I don't care." They both wore pleased, wide smiles as he leaned across and kissed her, caring about neither passing on or catching colds nor the first year with a broken leg looking on their moment with wide eyes.

Madam Pomfrey shooed Oscar straight out as soon as she bustled out of her office to administer a steaming potion, but he shot a cheeky look over his shoulder to let her know he'd be back later. As cocky as he seemed, the blonde twin had a feeling she'd really be able to get herself to like him before he returned to Beauxbatons in a fortnight.

--

The way Sirius kissed was so rhythmic and musical, and the obvious confidence he had in the way he placed his hands and his body helped with allowing the other person to relax. Bastien had never been with someone so practiced before, and it was strange to be held by such experienced hands and feel wanted by someone so skilled in the ways of romance. He'd only ever had a couple of little kisses before in his life at the ends of dates and at parties, so the sheer amount of time Sirius liked to spend was a shock to the system, but not a bad one.

The only thing was, Sirius didn't seem to take the French boy's self-consciousness into account. He looked utterly confused when Bastien squealed at a hand sneaking up under his shirt, pushing the Gryffindor away. "What's wrong?"

"We're outside! People might walk past!" A hand swept stray hair away from his eyes; hair he hadn't noticed had fallen. This seemed to amuse Sirius. Grey eyes glimmered and his lips turned up in the corners – what was so funny? "But we _are_! Do you want to get caught?"

"Bastien, love, I'm not the sort of person to get caught. It's always someone else's fault." He winked, clearly joking, and turned from where he'd been lying on his side to sitting up on the grass, supporting himself with his elbows so that he could lean back slightly. "Come on. What have you got to be frightened of with me?"

"Nothing," murmured the vampire, lifting one knee to his chest in a gesture of clear uncertainty. His gaze remained fixed on the ground even when Sirius' pale slender hand rested on his arm in comfort, though he answered the silent question. "I feel so guilty… Remus, he…"

Sirius' gaze fell too. He'd been getting around the brick wall of his conscience – which _did_ exist – by trying to forget about his boyfriend, and now that the topic had been dragged up he felt in the wrong once more. "I know," he said, softly, but lifted a hand to the French boy's face like he had done the first time they'd kissed, "but you're leaving soon, and I don't want to let you go without being with you somehow." This was stretching the truth a lot – all Sirius really wanted was sex, but Bastien wasn't to know this and his heart skipped a beat as he watched his companion's lips form the words.

"Sirius," he said, quietly, "I think I'm in love with you."

This admittance came as something of a shock to Sirius. He'd had people tell him this before, and just as earnestly, but he'd been expecting them. Of course he'd known that Bastien's liking for him was deep – why else would he have given himself to him on their first night? – but _love_? Sirius didn't think he'd ever fallen in love, and if and when he did he was sure it would take longer than a week or so. Like a true master of his art, however, he didn't allow his surprise to show but wrapped his arm around the vampire's shoulders and kissed the top of his head, keeping his face buried there after he'd done so but allowing his eyes to stray. "Don't be," he murmured. "It'll break your heart."

"You wouldn't break my heart, Sirius?" He'd intended this as a statement but it came out sounding like a question, humble and afraid. The only reply he received was the rub of a hand on his shoulder and the arms of the boy he'd fallen so hard for keeping him boxed in and safe. What scared him was that he was content with this.

--

The pattern that Remus traced on Sirius' chest with a finger was nothing, but it felt like he was signing a contract. The chaser's skin was still slightly damp from their earlier affections and whispered promises. It was smooth too, though; as smooth as Sirius himself, who smiled up at the boy he'd held. Their mouths were close enough to reach without straining too far, but Remus pulled himself forward to take the chaser up the suggestion anyway. He'd started off so timid, like a rabbit in the headlights, but now he felt like he needed this closeness and wasn't frightened to take it when it was offered to him, or even demand it himself sometimes. There was just something about Sirius that made him let go of everything – trust, perhaps. He'd never trusted anyone with himself like this before.

As soon as their lips parted he shuffled back down to rest his head on that chest again. "I'm sorry I made you wait so long."

"Wait?"

"Yes; you know. I made you wait for…"

He paused, and the dark-haired boy filled the gap. "You mean wait for sex." Sirius could feel the warmth of the blush on the werewolf's face hot against his skin and couldn't restrain a light laugh. "I can't believe you still can't say it. Most twelve-year-olds I know can."

"Yes, well…"

"Rem, out of interest, are you also incapable of saying 'penis'?"

"Oh, come on, how old do you think I am?" He wasn't really disgruntled, though; he shuffled his head against Sirius, letting his eyelashes flutter against the tanned form of his boyfriend, and laughed along with him.

"Go on, then, say it."

"_No!_"

"You're so feminine."

"You're so immature."

A short laugh followed this; Sirius knew it was true. What he said next flowed from his lips before he could censor it. "God, I love you."

The conversation was forgotten as Remus sat bolt upright, propping himself up with hands either side of Sirius' shoulders. If he hadn't been completely shocked by what he'd just said, Sirius might have blushed. He was thankful that he could just put on a smile and pretend he'd intended to say it. Goodness knew why; his feelings for his fellow marauder were strong but he wouldn't have said this – just as he'd thought earlier. He cursed himself for thinking about what Bastien had said so much, believing it to be the cause. Admittedly, what he focused on more was the reaction he was receiving from such a simple four-word sentence. The smile on Remus' face stretched from ear to ear, and accompanied with the pinkness that had appeared on his neck and shoulders it was absolutely adorable. "Really? Do you honestly mean that?"

Again, Sirius spoke without moderating what he said. Surprisingly, it felt like the truth. "Yes." What he'd thought earlier was that he'd never fall in love, but maybe he'd been blind. Maybe he just hadn't noticed that it had already happened… the idea formed happily in his head. For now, he accepted it willingly. Why not let it happen? The smile the werewolf bore spread to his own features. "Yes, I do mean it. I mean it." A hand around that reddened neck pulled Remus down, lips meeting again for a kiss that seemed to contain so much more all of a sudden. The light brushing of their tongues wasn't just sexual anymore; it was expressive, and so were the massaging hand on his face and in his hair. Whose body was whose, and what did it matter?

After a moment of eternity which could have lasted five minutes or sixty, they parted, traces of passion dancing across both their lips. Remus' head came to rest gently just under Sirius' chin. Things were perfect.

Still, Sirius felt like he was waiting for something on a cliff edge, and he didn't want to admit that he knew what it was but he knew he had to. Maybe Remus didn't – well, it didn't merit thinking about. A hand, now unoccupied, drifted down to stroke the sandy waves of the werewolf's hair, and he sighed but didn't hear himself as words poured from the other boy's mouth like he'd been working up to it for a while. "Oh, _Sirius_. I love you too."

Bastien was nobody, and they were everybody. They didn't speak again before they fell asleep, arms wrapped around each other in a caring embrace.

Lovers.

**Sorry this took so long! I'll do better next time.**


	21. Can We Get Along Again?

Ahh, it's been so long since I enjoyed writing this story

**Ahh, it's been so long since I enjoyed writing this story! The last chapter was dreadful to write. Two months! Two whole months!**

**Thank you to all the lovely reviewers and patient readers – that chapter was, as I say, an absolute pain to write. It was just so damned awkward… hopefully although there are awkward bits in this they'll be more fun than monotonous.**

**No dare this chapter; sorry. Sometimes it just doesn't fit!!**

**Also, I know there's been a lot of Sirius and Remus in this… sorry about that! It was originally just going to be Lily and James, but then the story sort of wavered a bit – you know how it is.**

**Eye luff the Joker. **

**Props to Elliot Minor for 'Running Away' when I was writing the awkward bits in this chapter… let's face it, there are lots of them. Also, props to Sanctus Real for the chapter title. It's slightly unorthodox given my usual title template, but in my eyes it fits, especially because it says 'can we'!. The lyrics are from their 'The Fight Song'; I love that song!**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

For saying his transformation would occur in just a few days, Remus awoke in the morning absolutely content and unafraid of it, even before he heard the patter of Sirius-sounding feet on the floor of the dormitory. For once, Remus gathered, he was trying to be quiet, but it wasn't really working very well. Perhaps the times he'd learned to sneak around had all been when he was in the company of those far too drunk to listen. Even Auguste was staring out from his quilts in that dopey stage between sleep and consciousness. "Sirius," he droned, "qu'est-ce que tu fait?"

From many nights of Auguste's drunken misunderstandings of what on earth he was up to, Sirius knew this meant that he wanted to know what he was doing. "Setting the music thingy up."

"Sirius, it's half seven in the morning." Remus rolled over in the covers to wipe the sleep from his eyes with a hand and then faced his boyfriend with a smile, which was mirrored as soon as the chaser looked up.

"You're awake."

"So I gather."

"Well, then, good morning, sweetheart."

"Spare me," said James, wandering in through the door in his old black dressing gown over his school trousers and closing it quietly behind him. He looked relatively enthusiastic about his visit given what he said next. "Just nipping in for a shirt; all of mine are practically unwearable."

It went without saying that this was directed towards Sirius, who nodded without turning around, seemingly fixated on finishing what he'd started. "Scruffy bugger." They were beyond asking for and giving permission; over the years they'd borrowed each other's clothes so often it hardly seemed worthwhile not to assume that they had a shared wardrobe. "Get one from the bottom; they're actually folded up down there."

"Thanks."

A few moments later, the sounds of James rustling through Sirius' trunk, Remus shuffling in the covers, Peter snoring quietly and Auguste's yawning were drowned out with the blaring introduction to Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra. This drew an appreciative humming sound from James but a light groan from Bastien.

"Oh, turn it off… he is awful."

"Do you really think so?" Remus replied, smiling shyly at Sirius. "I think he's very talented."

"I second that." This was from James, and came as no surprise to the werewolf after his rendition of Fly Me To The Moon for the dare earlier in the year. He'd never known how into jazz his friend really was; then again, now he thought of it, he was always humming _something_ by Sinatra. Clearly, however, he, unlike a troubled-looking Bastien, hadn't noticed that Remus wasn't really referring to the musician. Instead, he stood up with a wide, eager smile on his face. "Don't you want to know why I've really trekked all the way over here wearing only my dressing gown?"

Suddenly, everyone ignored the music to listen to what James had to say; usually he was still miles away in fields of white flowers at this time, so this news had to be something worth it. Sirius turned around far too quickly and accidentally kicked the foot of the bed on his way to sitting down next to Remus, but he was far too interested in what his friend had to say to pay any attention to this or the pain – though the boy he sat next to winced for him. "Do tell."

Now that he knew they would listen, the head boy sank to sit on Remus' bed, which had remained unoccupied for a few days in a row now and was looking quite rumpled from where people had started to use it as nothing more than a chair. Apart from those who were asleep, he had the dorm's full attention, which pleased him a little bit more than he liked. "Well, Lily woke me up this morning really early; well, early for me. Not so much for her. But she was really flustered, and it turned out she'd lost her ring."

There followed a distinct lack of enthusiasm, which James didn't like much. "You know… the Transfiguration one?" He wiggled the fingers on his right hand to show off the silver band that he and Lily had designed together for the project. Recognition flashed in Sirius' eyes and he nodded, understanding the significance James saw now. Moments later, Remus had a smile on his face that showed that he, too, had cottoned on; none of the French students – save perhaps for Bastien, but even he would need an explanation – stood a chance of getting it, and all wore blank expressions. James decided he couldn't really be bothered to enlighten them, and his gaze hovering momentarily on Peter's bed with its curtains still drawn, he continued. "We looked for it for a bit – even tried summoning it – but no joy, and she started apologising over and over again… looked like she was about to cry. Obviously I told her not to worry, that we'd find it, but it wasn't losing it she was worried about."

He paused at this, and Sirius wasn't feeling patient enough to wait. "And?" he prompted, calming down his tone reluctantly for his second admission at a light touch on the arm from Remus. "What was she worried about?" James was laughing as soon as he'd finished speaking, however, and this brought on one of Sirius' rather ridiculous pouts. "What?"

"You're such a puppy; look at you." The pillow hit his head seconds later, and amidst a couple more dying bells of laughter he held his hands up in surrender. "Alright. Sorry. You're just… you're really different today. It's weird." Clearly, something had happened between him and Remus, and James would have to worm it out of him, but Sirius looked as though he'd happily turn James _into_ a worm, so for now the head boy left teasing him about his newfound soft side for later. "She said she was worried I'd be upset she'd lost it."

If Remus hadn't been under Sirius' watchful doe-eyes, he might have aww-ed. James had been hankering after Lily for so long, and it hardly seemed fair that he have to wait until now for her to start showing that she liked him back. James was, when it came down to it, a genuinely nice person, and now that Lily had begun to see that he'd lost a lot of the arrogance of two years ago it seemed she was finding that out for herself. "That's really sweet." Auguste, surprisingly managing to understand this so early in the morning, snorted at this, but silenced himself at a glare from Sirius.

James, on the other hand, had a grin on his face that suggested he was oblivious to any negativity surrounding his news. "I told her it was alright; and I was kidding around, trying to cheer her up – obviously I didn't want her to _cry_, I hate it when she's upset…" It seemed that he couldn't help but ramble now he had reached the crux of what he was trying to say, and he had even begun to blush slightly at the tips of his ears. "Well yeah, I was just joking around, and I said that she didn't need the ring to keep up with the contract and go out with me… and she blushed, and said that she doesn't need the contract at all."

Even Sirius couldn't hide how pleased he was at this, bearing his teeth in an eager smile that was decidedly canine. "Aw, Prongs, that's great! What did you say?"

The smile dropped a bit. "I, er… I said that was very sweet of her."

There was a long pause as they waited for James to finish until they realised that he already had. Remus was unwilling to ask, but his companion wasn't. "Is that it?"

"Well, she could have been kidding, I didn't want to piss her off…" His reasoning fell away as he looked up to meet their disbelieving expressions.

Sirius groaned and fell back onto the bed. "You stupid, stupid wanker. You absolute moron." The trail of insults continued in his mind, but they may as well have been aloud given the extent to which they were obvious. James looked abashed; clearly he knew that his response to her blatant confession was pathetic. At the time, he'd been trying desperately not to put his foot in it by making assumptions and had inadvertently gone the other way. "Idiot." Sirius finished, still in his laid-back position.

"Yeah, I know," he admitted. "Do you think it's too late to say anything?"

"Well, the moment's gone." Remus mused in a gentle tone, trying not to tear up James' good mood. In his opinion, the chance hadn't died quiet yet. "I'm sure you could bring it up again, though."

Completely unable to understand, Auguste started up a conversation in fast French with Oscar, and unwillingly tearing his eyes away from how close Sirius and Remus were sitting, Bastien joined them; Jerome was still hopelessly lost to dreams of his girlfriend at home in France, who he was beginning to miss terribly now. Luckily for him, there was only a week left before they'd return to Beauxbatons. With the exceptions of Delia and Oscar and Bastien, who just couldn't get enough of each other and Sirius respectively, everyone was more or less ready to have everything back to normal again. Auguste hadn't enjoyed meeting back up with Sirius as he thought he would, and the feeling was entirely mutual. Sirius also wanted to distance himself from Bastien, understandably now that he'd discovered the way he really felt about Remus and the way poor Bastien felt about _him_. Guilt had registered within him stronger than it ever had before and he knew that until he was away from the French boy it would continue to ache inside him.

An hour later, everybody was ready but had been talking non-stop since their conversations had started. From what Remus could pick up, the French boys had been talking about the twins. The fact that Oscar and Delia had gotten together was common knowledge, but it seemed that the details weren't. What he heard was that Oscar was refusing to divulge all the particulars about what had happened when he and Delia had gone out for a walk the previous evening, and about the Quidditch game they'd arranged to see later today. That was nice, at least… Remus would probably have expected him to spill everything the moment he was asked, but it seemed he deserved more credit than that.

They all went down to breakfast together, still wrapped up in their own conversations and Peter wrapped up in his own mind. Nobody noticed when Snape appeared out of the shadows and took his wrist, pulling him away from them all, and they didn't even notice that he never returned – perhaps proof that they wouldn't have deserved to stop him from going in the first place. Breakfast itself was an interesting affair with shy glances and small smiles passing between James and Lily in abundance. Sirius and Remus had, surprisingly, forgotten about their own relationship so that they could be amused and pleased by their best friend's finally flowering one.

A few seats away, however, things weren't quite as rosy. Charlie Dawson looked as though she was about to burst into tears or hit somebody. Whoever they were, however, that lucky somebody had been rescued by her twin sister, who seemed to have some sadistic wish to step into the line of fire. "Just cheer up, will you?"

"For God's sake, Delia, I've said I'm fine. Leave me alone."

"Well, then, eat something." The blonde twin pushed her plate of toast in front of her sister, only to have it pushed straight back. "Why not?"

"I'm not hungry! Stop fussing!"

"Then stop refusing!"

By now their voices were raised enough for the others to break from their rosy trance and bounce back down to earth. It wasn't loud enough for the rest of the Great Hall to stop eating but quite a few heads were turning. The Dawson sisters seemed to be oblivious to this, however, as they continued their argument that seemed to be increasing in scale by the second. They rarely fought, but from the last time they had James had learned not to try and interrupt. The slap mark had remained on his cheek for days, no matter how he and Sirius tried to make it go down.

"You're so annoying."

Delia snorted. "Look who's talking." She seemed to soften slightly, though not enough to lose the argument. "Seriously, what's up with you?" By accident, Charlie's eyes drifted to Oscar and then back again. She tried to cover up her mistake by looking at everybody but the damage was already done. The softness in the blonde twin disappeared. "Is this about me and Oscar?"

All of a sudden, the brunette seemed to snap in a different direction. "You're taking it so seriously so quickly. How stupid can you get? You're going to end up with your heart broken and I'm going to have to pick up all the pieces – as usual – because you haven't listened to me – as usual!"

"Oh, I understand what's going on."

"I don't think you _do_ understand what's going on, Delia! That's the point!"

"You're lonely."

There was a stung silence in which Charlie tried to compose herself again, and although she managed to talk without a quiver in her voice, she didn't completely succeed. "I'm _what_?"

"Lonely."

"You're mad."

"Mad and _right_. I can tell – look at you, you're just moping around! You're a mess; you've got to pull yourself together!"

"_I'm _a mess? I'm not the one who's getting up to Merlin knows what with a French boy I started going out with _yesterday _in the grounds!"

"Are you calling me a whore?"

Both their eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm calling you whatever you are for letting a boy do whatever he wants with you at the drop of a hat – ha, or a cold!"

"You know nothing like that happened, so stop making me sound like a slut!"

"Why not if that's what you are?"

There was no hesitation between the end of this comment, the beginnings of the furious tears beginning to drip down Delia's cheeks and her outraged snarl of, "You're just jealous because you know no boys would ever like _you_ for anything _more_ than that!" A painful silence occurred. Nobody wanted to say aloud that the line had been crossed or that this needed to stop here. Charlie was crying too by the time she'd stood up from her seat. Knowing fine well who Delia meant when she spoke next, she didn't stop to see that her sister was pointing at Sirius (who was looking away guiltily) when she called out for the last time. "Just ask _him_!"

Oscar had arrived at Delia's side to quieten her down by the time the doors of the Great Hall had banged shut again. The hush that had gradually been created died off as people began to speak again, but Delia herself quietened to sob with the blonde French boy's arms around her. He was whispering things to her; she couldn't understand the words but she understood the sentiment and that was enough. Oscar met Auguste's eyes as he left the Great Hall after the other twin, and nodded to confirm he was doing the right thing.

Nobody dared say anything with Delia still in earshot – though Professor McGonagall tried to talk to them about it – so breakfast continued as normally as it could after the unexpected rage of tongues only moments before.

--

Auguste would normally have hidden from the rain as best he could, but today his only thoughts were those of catching up with Charlie and making sure she was alright. It was quite literally pouring now – it had only been spitting earlier in the morning – and he supposed they were both going to catch their deaths out here unless they went back inside as soon as possible. His first target was therefore to get her into the castle; beyond that, however, the rain was lost on him.

As he reached the end of the pathway that led to the open grounds, he caught sight of her running into the trees. Apparently her sister had hit the nail on the head; or at least, she had in Charlie's eyes. Auguste was no psychology expert, but he had understood enough of the 'discussion' to comprehend what they had been saying to each other. The last thing Delia had said rang a bell; he remembered being told something about Sirius and Charlie together. It had never been serious to Sirius, but the oldest Dawson twin had fallen quite heavily for him. It had ended badly, and though they were friends now it seemed she'd never really gotten over the idea that she was useful for nothing but satisfying the one thing that – stereotypically – all boys were after. It wasn't the truth. Auguste himself could vouch for that, and he realised now he should have done so much earlier in the game.

He caught up to her after a minute or so, but frankly, a little too late - they were both already soaked to the bone. Trying to lighten the mood, the first thing he said in his heavily accented voice when she turned around to face him, defeated, was, "Ridiculous English weather." She laughed softly, her tears catching in her throat, and the moment's amusement was over. "Look," he said, focusing as much as he could on speaking decent English. "Delia is angry."

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed."

"Please, don't… you know what I mean. She meant nothing she said."

Charlie seemed very loath to believe this, and shook her head. Water cascaded down her hair and face, dripping from her nose as she faced the floor. She felt worse than she believed she ever had before. Her own sister… the worst thing was that she had been right. That was exactly what Charlie was jealous of, and now everybody knew it. "She should have, because it's true."

"No, it isn't."

"Come off it, Auguste; you have no idea what we were saying. _Anglais_. Unless you were provided with a translation after I left – I wouldn't be surprised, honestly." Her voice was slightly bitter, and he found himself with a strange aching feeling in his chest as he heard it. That was weird. It wasn't something he'd felt before – but right now he couldn't think about that. He had to focus.

"My English has improved, being here." This was true; in school he hadn't cared but being at Hogwarts had made him want to be able to communicate. The practice had helped his language skills immeasurably. Even his vocabulary seemed to have inexplicably increased. He surprised himself with his flair for it. The accent had remained a permanent thing, however. "I know what she said, and I know that if she did mean it, she is wrong."

She was curious at this. He could tell; her head tilted up and her eyebrows furrowed slightly. It made him want to smile, but he reined himself in. This wasn't the time for admiring how beautiful she was. Beautiful, even in this rain. Beautiful to him, at least, and that was all he thought mattered. Somewhere in his boyish mind it registered that he was turning into a sap, but the objecting voice was squashed. He didn't care. All he cared about was what she had to say. "Oh? What makes you think that?"

"Because…" Despite the changes that he'd felt within him, Auguste still found himself with a natural aversion to discussing his feelings, but it was one that he was trying to curb for now. "Because I really like you, Charlie."

She was silent for a moment, and once she'd decided on what she was going to say and exactly how she was going to say it, allowed herself to speak. "Really?"

"_Oui_."

Saying 'Oh,' again would have been ridiculous in Charlie's eyes, so she didn't. Staying quiet was good enough for now. The laughter in his eyes was enough to keep her mind on track as she looked up into them. She'd seen so many sides to this boy since he'd arrived at Hogwarts; the cheeky side, the competitive side, drunken side and violent side all rolled into one, the flirty side… and now this considerate side which was so alien to her. If she didn't know better she'd mistake that twinkle for affection; adoration, even. Clearly this was wishful thinking on her behalf, though… wasn't it? Or were his lips really moving ever so gradually closer to hers, and were they now really meeting in the middle with a gentle brush and protective, warming hands the side of her face and her neck?

The rain tumbled down all around them, soaking their clothes, hair, tentatively but lovingly interlocked lips and bare skin more than it could be fathomed was possible, but there was nothing in the world that could force Charlie Dawson's lips away from Auguste's, and there was no rain heavy enough to extinguish the fire she had found inside herself once again. Eventually, of course, he demanded she allow him to take her inside lest she freeze to death in the sleeveless top she was wearing but this was a request anybody would have found hard to deny. He said he wouldn't carry her, but deliberately didn't promise, and as he ran through the downpour with her in his arms, her squealing and protesting half-heartedly all the way, it was difficult to muster thoughts of a girl that deserved this more than the eldest Dawson twin, who it seemed had finally found her doting Prince Charming to rescue her from the pain she'd been suffering from for so long.

--

It never took very long for the twins to make up again after an argument and this time was no different. Neither was dry-eyed as they swore never to say anything like that to each other ever again – though they both knew if they lost their tempers they just might, it was the thought that counted – and as such it wasn't exactly comfortable to watch for outsiders. Twins were a mysterious business, even to someone such as Sirius who claimed to have 'tried a few pairs on for size… sometimes at the same time' over the years, and the bond between Charlie and Delia was something that neither Lily nor James pretended to understand.

"It's sweet," Lily mused after they'd been sitting together in silence for five minutes or so, as everybody talked around them, "how they can just make up again after such a fierce argument."

"It is." He nodded, black hair falling into his eyes, but he didn't move a hand to correct it; he didn't even notice. "I can't even begin to get it… if I argued with Sirius like that, it would take us ages to talk to each other again, and they're hugging and all sorts!"

"You're boys; you're naturally as stubborn as pigs."

"Oh, thanks!"

They both grinned at each other, and James was struck by the perfection of the moment. The nerves didn't sound as apparent in his voice as he might have thought; his mind was wracked with them. "Hey, er; would you mind coming up to our common room with me? I just want to talk to you about something."

She looked pleased and a little nervous too, but not surprised. James was perceptive, but he had come to learn that Lily was just as perceptive too. He shook his head, frustrated at Sirius who was waggling his tongue in his mouth – what if Lily caught sight of _that_? – and he was certain that Beatrice had winked at the head girl before she left, but he tried to push these pressuring thoughts out of his mind as they walked to the dormitory, making light and companionable chatter about absolutely nothing at all.

As soon as they were in there they both sat down, realising the weight of the situation. James tried to choose his words very carefully, but as usual they didn't come out quite as he'd planned anyway. "So, er, you know you said earlier that the, er, contract… that you didn't need the contract to, er…"

"Go out with you," she prompted kindly, and he nodded with a fond smile on his face that she'd managed to provoke just by being who she was. He knew he loved her, with every fibre of his being, and he wasn't afraid to accept that, especially now that he was pretty certain she at least liked him back. This moment mattered so much and he was terrified of spoiling it all, but the small, encouraging smile she wore on her lips – _jus_t for him – helped him onwards. She didn't care what he said, really.

"Yeah. Sorry – I'm a bit out of practice at this now." They both laughed but in their nerves it didn't last long, and he paused, thinking of what to say next, and then gave another short burst of nervous laughter. "Sorry, I'm over-dramatising this so much but I just don't want to get it wrong."

"It's alright." Lily adopted the same soothing tone as before, trying to make it as easy as she could for him. She knew fine well that as much as she wanted to help and just tell him he didn't have to say it all, he would want to, and she wasn't about to stop him just because she could feel how awkward it was for him. Subconsciously, she shuffled a few centimetres towards him, and _very_ consciously James did the same, taking a deep breath in through his nose.

"Alright, then." He paused for what he wanted to make the last time and set off on the road to happiness or what would feel like eternal damnation. The latter route didn't seem so likely now but it still existed, choking him as he tried to speak. "Lily, I really really like… no, just… sorry, there's no point in me lying now. I _love_ you." She'd flushed, but she had a wide smile on her face too, green eyes flashing and happier than he'd ever seen her before. "So… not revolted? Annoyed? Murderous?"

"Not really."

"Oh, good." He eyed her, pretending to scrutinise her features – of course, to him, they were perfect. "Are you sure? You're not going to just… jump up and attack me at any moment?"

"I honestly doubt it, James."

His hand rising shakily to her face seemed to take a lifetime to reach its destination, but the wait was worth it when his palm made contact with her skin. They melted at the same time, both eagerly anticipating what was to come next, and with what felt like electricity jumping through them and kicking their hearts out of beat every couple of seconds, they leaned together and after bumping noses and a light bout of giggling from the redhead, the lips of the head boy finally met those of the head girl, irrevocably binding them together. They both felt it; that light tug on their heartstrings they'd been denying for so long this year, and allowed the feeling to be taken as a cue, the start gun, the red flag – James could feel the blush running into her skin almost more acutely than he could feel it in his own as lips began to move and press against each other. Everything was gentle but also filled with everything they'd ever wanted to say and never had. So much seemed to happen, irreversibly, in the short seconds it occurred in before Lily pulled away with a sharp breath, jolting his hand away from her face.

Naturally, his first instinct was to check what was amiss – "Lily, are you alright? Have I done something wrong?" – but she wouldn't let his comforting hands anywhere near her. She didn't want to be held or touched. This was going to change everything and she'd been so _happy_ just being beside him, never mind _kissing_ him. Lust, as Charlie and Delia had proved today, could kill it all. Tears sprang to her eyes but she fought them back, standing up after trying and failing to get out of his tender reach.

"James, no. No." She had escaped the wetness in her eyes but not in her throat and he heard the croakiness the need to cry had caused.

"Lily, please-" he started, but he couldn't finish.

"Don't, James. I'm sorry, but just… leave me alone."

"Lily!" She looked up to catch the unrepressed pain and confusion in his eyes. He was unable to fathom what had gone wrong, convinced he'd hurt her or crossed the line in some way. She didn't want him to think it would be his fault, but how could she possibly explain? She couldn't. Lily had lived with her own pain before and she could live with James' now… couldn't she?

As she left the common room through the portrait, though, guilty thoughts resonated through her mind. She'd been right moments earlier – she hadn't attacked him. No; but she'd done something so, so much worse. She'd risen his hopes and led him on just on an emotional whim of hers, and had allowed her feelings to get the better of her before she could get them in check and think logically again. Of course she didn't _love_ _James Po_tter… and now she'd gone and broken his heart.

She didn't want any company. She held back the majority of what she assumed to be guilt until she had found her way into the room of requirement, but the minute she'd stepped inside and closed the door all the things she'd felt and done poured out of her at once. Back in the common room, both Charlie and Delia were sitting with their perfectly imperfect French boyfriends, laughing unstoppably at Sirius' one-man rendition of their argument earlier. Beatrice and Rachel were there, too, unaffected by all the romance flinging itself around the place and undeniably happy. A head-over-heels Remus sat with his head in his hands, staring with unhidden, unbidden love in his eyes at the performer afore him, who returned the glance as soon as he caught it. None of them had any idea that their head girl was crying her heart out in the room of requirement, nor that James Potter, convinced he'd harmed the love of his life, was staring out of the window, sole tears working their way out of his eyes every now and again when he just couldn't prevent them any longer.

--

Moments between Sirius and Remus weren't quite as catastrophic and dramatic as those which had occurred between James and Lily, and once Sirius had absorbed his fill of the limelight for the evening he had taken to persuading the werewolf to sit on his lap in the progressively emptying common room and accept his playful kisses without complaining; it was a task he didn't find as difficult as Remus might have liked. After ten minutes or so of messing around and the mildest play-fighting Sirius had ever encountered they sat in silence, the only contact remaining a long, lanky arm lying nonchalantly around Remus' neck. They'd been silent for a while until the chaser finally spoke into the near-emptiness of the room. "Are you happy?"

The question had caught Remus very off-guard. "This seems rather out of the blue."

"Mm."

"Is something wrong?" Pale, unhealthily slender fingers weaved up between Sirius'. He didn't say anything else, knowing the other boy didn't like to be badgered, but perhaps he should have; Sirius only shook his head. He gave another meek attempt. "Are you sure?"

"Everything's fine… more than fine, actually. I was just wondering; that's all."

"Wondering…?"

"Yeah," said Sirius, completely missing the prompt, and Remus decided that he'd best give up. He was getting nowhere, and it was getting later every second.

"I'm off to bed now… we've got classes tomorrow, don't forget." He removed himself gently from Sirius' grip, which didn't take much, and leaned down to press his lips against the other boy's momentarily. "Night."

"Night," responded Sirius after a short pause, clearly rather distracted. He wasn't upset or angry so much as lost in thought, however, so Remus didn't think much of leaving him there to think on his own as he went upstairs to get ready for bed. He passed Charlie and Delia sitting on the stairs, talking animatedly about the Quidditch match they'd been to – Oscar and Delia had invited the other Dawson twin and Auguste along with them. Of course, the conversation wasn't so much about the match itself as the boys they'd seen it with. He smiled at them both, in a good mood, and this seemed to bring them back to the real world; they both stood up and waved goodnight to him, returning to their own dormitory. Of course, it didn't register in Remus' mind that the only two people left in the common room were Sirius and Bastien.

There was a silence for a few minutes after everybody else had left, and Bastien didn't turn from his position standing in front of the fire. Sirius heard the hiss of pain when the fangs forced their way out but he, like Bastien himself, ignored it, or rather didn't acknowledge it. After so long, the French boy turned around and walked over to take the seat across the table from Sirius. His accent was stronger than usual, perhaps because he was concentrating on controlling himself more than speaking in English. "So."

The dark-haired marauder did not beat about the bush. "Listen, I'm really sorry; I never meant for anything like this to happen."

"I realise that." His tone was cold and unfriendly, but like a fire that had very nearly died out and was hidden beneath burnt wood, although he couldn't see it Sirius could feel a little of the warmth emanating from the vampire. There was another long pause. "Well, go ahead. Say it."

"Bastien…"

"I don't want to wait to hear it any longer!"

They were staying quiet for the sake of protecting their privacy, but it was clear that if they were somewhere they wouldn't be heard, Bastien would have exploded already. He was frustrated, but beyond that there was an uncharacteristic sense of injustice. A part of him longed for the impossible to happen, for Sirius to tell him that it was all an act with Remus and that he was truly, madly, deeply, unquestionably in love with Bastien. Even as Sirius opened his mouth to speak his hopes were as high as a kite, and that only made the fall feel far worse. "I don't love you. I love Remus, and I can't do this with you anymore. It's not right."

"It wasn't in the first place but you let it happen."

"I know, and I'm sorry I did."

Bastien hadn't been expecting Sirius to take the blame for what had happened, even though he'd tried to force it on him. He had to hand to the boy that he was being far more mature than he'd expected. Suddenly, he felt guilty for acting so childishly, and nodded. "It's not all your fault."

Sirius shrugged, clearly having already decided to take it all on his own shoulders. His facial expression was apologetic for once. "I'm sorry I've acted like such an idiot to you, Bastien."

"That's alright." The smile the French boy wore was a sad one, but it was genuine. "It doesn't stop me from being crazy about you." Sirius shook his head and opened his mouth to protest against these feelings but Bastien shook his in response before he could say anything. "Then this is goodbye."

"I suppose so." There was a short, awkward pause as Bastien leaned across the table and leaning back slightly but unable to avoid the touch of the vampire's lips against his, Sirius could only hope it would be enough to wash away any bad blood between them. A hand finding his chest for balance and a moment's uncomfortable contact were enough, though – a light gasp was enough to tell Sirius that the unthinkable had happened. Bastien's timing was dreadful. He pushed the other boy off and turned to see that Remus hadn't walked away – though he didn't know whether to be thankful for this or horrified by it. "Remus, it isn't what you think; we were breaking up…"

"Breaking up?" The werewolf's voice, given his due, was not quivering or croaky despite the hurt in it. Sirius' eyes creased, thinking of what he could possibly say to make it better. "Don't bother, Sirius, it's alright. I'll leave you two to it."

"No! I…"

"Sirius, I said don't bother." He turned away to go straight back into the dormitory, but turned back again after a second and began walking over to the desk that Bastien had now, decently, retreated back from. "Forgot my book," he muttered, trying his best to look away and hide the tears brimming up in his eyes.

"Oh, _Remus_…"

"Don't you 'oh, Remus' me. I realise I'm not the most difficult person to deceive but that doesn't mean you should try it." He couldn't keep a lid on it all now – the tears hadn't quite started falling yet but the emotion was contorting his voice at last. As he reached the staircase he looked around, seeming disgusted with himself, and directed one last remark at Sirius. "You're a very good liar, you know that? But you didn't have to say it first."

Bastien looked confused at this, but unfortunately the dark-haired chaser knew exactly what his friend – and something more no longer, it seemed – was talking about. "I wasn't… that was… Rem!"

Of course, the werewolf had no intention of hearing any more from the boy he thought was lying to him, and was already up the first flight of stairs and on his way into their dormitory and his own bed again. He flung his diary to the foot of his bed, in no fit state to write it anymore, and started sobbing far too much to be able to croak out a charm to lock his curtains in place. Thankfully for both him and the other tenants of the dormitory, he was past making any noise but his breath kept catching in his throat and the tears simply wouldn't stop soaking into his pillow. _Pathetic_.

Downstairs, Sirius felt similar, and refused to accept any apologies from the boy opposite – they were fast and thick despite this, of course. After thirty seconds or so he just couldn't stand it anymore. "Bastien, just… go away, will you?"

Without any words spilling from his hurt lips, the vampire obeyed, leaving the animagus to sit and stare into the fire as he reminisced about the few moments that had led to his world crashing around him so suddenly. Sirius was not the type to cry and tonight was no exception, but for once in his life he truly wished he could.

--

When Lily finally returned to the heads' dormitory late in the evening, she half-expected James to have gone to stay in the Gryffindor dorms with the other boys but upon opening the door to the bedroom – quietly, just in case – she found him tucked up in his bed, turned on one side in a sort of half-baked foetal position as usual. As the unsuspecting guardian portrait had found upon asking her, "Why so serious?", Lily was quite incapable of smiling at the moment, guilt weighing down the corners of her mouth, but the sight warmed her. He looked so peaceful in his sleep.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and taking her pyjamas from the bottom of her bed, stepped into her bed and locked the door behind her.

As soon as she'd gone, the head boy's eyes opened sorrowfully to stare into the dark, seeing nothing but the sparkling green of her eyes, the wild beauty of her hair and the pure happiness of a smile he remembered. He couldn't help but be in love with her, but it seemed that she just couldn't help but not be in love with him. "Me too."


	22. Good News?

Dear CYCY readers,

Lots of people have sent me messages over the years asking me to continue Can You, Can't You – and as I've told everybody who's messaged me, every single time I've tried. Unfortunately, though, I just lost the will to write that story; my writing style, ability and interests had completely changed since I started writing it, and I just never managed to write something I was satisfied with to finish it.

Recently, now that university has finished for the year, I've been working to start again. This new story will not be exactly the same as CYCY, but it will run on the same premise. It will feature Lily and James's relationship more closely than Sirius and Remus's; Peter will be more included in the group, and the characters will be more well-rounded than before. I like to think it will be a much more interesting read!

I understand if you've lost interest in the story too, and I certainly don't expect everybody who read CYCY to move over to the new story! However, if you are interested, then you can find the new version under the title 'Dare' on this account. I hope to see some of you there, and I'm sorry that the first version never concluded properly. Rest assured there were lots of happy endings!

Love, Kate.


End file.
